EEEEK it's November....

Next stop, Xmas?

The weather for the weekend was glorious, after a dodgy few wintery wet days. Although I do think I detected the hint of a 'black Easterly', the prevailing Summer scourge here.It was however, nowhere near enough to stop two intrepid seekers of treasure. Equipped with a much bigger car - thank you Col's Mum and Dad - and a map of the garage sales we had to check first the for sale, then the unwanted and tossed out. Although the BOYD (bring out your dead- see last post)doesn't really start till next week, the early birds get the goodies.

Several excellent bargains - a brilliant late model sewing machine for my textillian daughter, because every girl needs to sew. A snip at $35, including case and original instruction books. I probably could have done the beating them down thing but sometimes it's just rude. From the same place, a new garden spade, and a small travelling alarm clock. My travelling companion snapped up a lovely old solid wood side table.

In the back of a dark shed in an unadvertised garage sale ( you have to look out for the signs) I found the most amazing and lovely old garden bench. See, I said we'd need a bigger car.

There was also a strange brass thing, which may have been a clock. I liked it anyway. Perhaps it will be a clock again, or maybe something else.

We eventually found our way to the last for the day, a very nice chap called Peter who was moving house. He has lived for a long time in the cutest little cottage at Middleton Beach and he has the most glorious retro, vintage and antique stuff. Apparently leaving wads of cash home so you don't spend it is not a winning strategy. My trusty travelling companion loaned me some cash, leaving herself enough for some lovely antique books on her religion of choice.

So I scampered (OK, tottered)away with a cute little apprentice cupboard. There were bigger things, also fabulous, but I am squeezed for space. Peter is going to open a shop, I will include some photos when he does.

Down to 35c, we struck out for some verge trawling (the nice sort). We did grab 3 HUGE rolls of wire - chicken and other - mainly new.


Now, where did I put those samples of laminexy stuff? I have a cunning plan for them....

questionable....

Due to the need to get some work done for the upcoming Summer Street indie-market-fair-shopping-extravaganza (November 18-20, Albany Town Hall) there was limited travel and excitement for me over the past few weeks.

Obie and I spent the weekends making, making, sorting, making. Which gave me some time to ponder the really BIG questions, like why do the people in aisle seats on planes rush on before the ones in the window seats? If everyone has checked their baggage on the plane and done the whole seat allocation thing, where do those last two people go? "This is desperately late airlines paging the following passengers: your flight is fully boarded and awaiting immediate departure blah blah blah..." Is there some mysterious black hole just outside the boarding lounge? Have they forgotten why they were at the airport? How hard is it to just wait to get on the plane?

But I digress...

As spring has well and truly sprung people are clearing out and getting ready for Bring Out Your Dead - the annual verge collection which here in Albany brings joy to a girl's heart.

And, it must be admitted, junk to her home. One persons trash, etc etc.

Today's garage sales had doubled in number and it looks as though everyone is preparing for the great chuckout.

Some early birds are already bringing out their treasures , and some urban archaeologists are browsing.

As the police chief said in Jaws "I think we need a bigger [car]."

But on a more serious bent, the great trash exchange is a fabulous illustration of recycling at work. If it still has some use, use it!

I almost put something out today, luckily my 'lots in zero out' policy was preserved by a friend who happily took my stuff, plus two dear old suitcases, back to her house for some craftivity.

Amongst today's gems, a lovely old metal table base, and a brand new tent for $5.














Now somewhere I have a table top to fit that table, just gotta find it.....



I have finally managed to get around to scanning some more drawings, I will make some cards (if I get the time!) The whole working-for-a-living thing really cramps one's productivity.






They are really just bits of silliness but they make me smile....






























This character specialises in extreme housework. She is fearless. Sometimes she turns up in outlandish places, and sometimes things don't go quite as well as could be expected. Sometimes, the suit isn't as flattering as it could be.

I may include some of her adventures in future posts.

Next - finishing some models. Perhaps for next post.

Table legs and charts

The taxidermied emu legs were an absolute steal at $50.

I really, really mean that. The poor seller's wife didn't find them attractive and apparently didn't feel that a small side table with emu legs was a decorating possibility, so he had to sell them. Personally, I thought that they would make a thoughtful addition to my decorating scheme - currently a cross between tip shop and demented hippie.

Alas, insufficient cash reserves....but it may be worthwhile keeping an eye on the tip shop. I got the distinct impression that I may have been their only admirer.



Otherwise, a fantastic made in Australia in the 50's Globite suitcase in mint condition, with perfect pink and cream striped paper lining.

And a huge stack of shipping charts, from as early as the 1930's. I particularly liked the warning on the Karachi chart saying Caution:
submarines operating in this area.



Some will be for working on, they are torn and in too poor a condition for anything else. Some are fragmented but will be frameable.



Which reminded me that I have some lovely old survey maps of rural WA, including the drawings for the water tank at the Quaranup Quarantine Station, signed by Hilton Beasley the Government Architect of the day in 1913.



In the less cerebral corner for the weekend there were some vintage 1970 rollerskates (I know someone going to a fancy dress party as Roller Girl from Boogie Nights), some faux Raybans in the Blues Brothers style ( for my baby girl's sunglasses collection), some manga for my boy, a Terry Pratchett paperback for me, some bits of vintage jewellery for repair and reconstruction, and just enough left over to buy a soft serve icecream to eat on the way home.

gas mask leather corset octopus hat heels ring goggles brooch art sculpture skirt watch hair comb

Ah, where else but Etsy? This was the keyword list for a particularly interesting treasury. So much fantastic handmade stuff, so little time. Oh how I would like some of those glass taxidermy eyes...

This week I saw an interesting blog entry on Florence and Florence, whose motto is 'Beautiful things, re-loved.' I think it here, it comes out there - suitcases, AND my approach to sifting through garage sales and op shops.

Although I spend far, far too much time on Etsy, I have been as busy as a bee working on the stock for Summer Street, the indie market for handmade, coming up soon on 16,17 and 18 November. So here are some photos of some of the bits I have gathered and some things made from gathered bits.

Chance favours the prepared mind

...or so it is said ( possibly by Louis Pasteur). I say possibly because you can't really trust a cheap paperback crime fiction book where the protagonist meets a girl, woos the girl, loves the girl (we are halfway in by now and zero crime so far), only to have her killed, tracks and catches the criminal (a moderately interesting couple of chapters), thence to return to wimpering over his lost love and lawyers fees for the rest of the book.

But what can you seriously expect from a book for 20c at a garage sale? Possibly the reviews on the cover were a hint...
"I loved.....this book!" (famous author's name). The exact quote was probably more like "I loved going to Paris for holidays but the plane trip was completely ruined by having to read this book". I shall, I shall, be more choosy.

A disappointing op shop Friday paled into insignificance behind an almost perfect Saturday. Weather: clear, crisp, sunny. Number of sales: not so many but enough to be going on with. Cash: check. Breakfast: maybe later.

I got this quilt first. Handmade with Indonesian fabrics, the lady said. It has a few spots which need a stitch but nothing which won't be quick and easy. A bit riotous but shows promise.

The next place had a whole houseful of furniture and accoutremonts: dangerous places, these. I did weaken for an old bookshelf, delightfully tatty but the books are beginning to pile up on the floor again. Note to self : be choosy, choosy, choosy. I will, I promise.

The next place looked distinctly... not promising.

It turned out, however, to be the depository of possibly the last of the great grandmothers' button collections. Remember the tin, or jar, or bag of buttons you were allowed to play with? Sometimes? On a wet afternoon? This one was a cardboard carton, full of buttons, some in their original plastic test tubes, some in plastic bags, some on their original cards, and a lot loose just half filling the carton. We are talking cubic lots of buttons.

Sensible me said that I have quite a lot of old buttons. I don't need more. Where will I put them?

Sensible me was shoved rather violently out of the way by the me that just loves bunches of old buttons, pointed out that they could be squished in somewhere, and OMG aren't they fabulous. I put the loose ones in a huge clear IKEA glass vase ($2, Salvo's), in the middle of the kitchen table. Last night's dinner guests spent a happy hour playing with them, rearranging them, remembering the ones they had on their clothes as children, or their mothers did. Savouring the really, truly hideous ones.

Button collections invariably also contain interesting 'others'. In this case, the knob from a 50's stove; a rhinestone earring; a huge darning needle; and a badge, plastic, "Bank C.B.A.", as well as assorted other odds and sods.

At some stage, when everyone has had a play I will give some serious thought to how they can be used.

Light headed with excitement I did also manage to snare a lovely beaded evening bag, just a couple of tiny beads missing but quite repairable.

We pottered on to find a vacuum cleaner for my fellow treasure seeker - hers hasn't a hose and as she points out, it kinda limits its use. This one met all the vital requirements, ie it had a hose and was $20. It was also a nice shade of metallic green, which made it somehow more attractive.

We did a deal and added a bowling ball in its bag for an extra five - I think she now has bowling balls in all the primary colours. There was a moment when the mother of the woman having the sale tried to hold out for $10 for the ball, she was quickly advised by its owner that there was no need for such formality. Pausing only to loosen the seller's grip on her mother's throat, we grabbed our stuff and departed.

As I pointed out, its important to have a bowling ball to complement any outfit. In case the fashion police are having their annual bowling night.

I had just enough cash left to go get some fresh local oysters - 2 dozen , just absolutely brilliant with champagne for dinner last night.

Spring has sprung, the walrus said

... (to misquote just about everyone.)

The kind of spring where it rains overnight and everything is clean in the mornings. It isn't dark till 6.30pm, although its pretty cool outside by then. Still need a fire at night but not during the day - this house has a north-facing kitchen with heaps of windows, so if there's been afternoon sun its lovely and warm.


Yesterday, on the garage sale trail there were Arum lilies everywhere, whole hillsides of them against the most glorious lush green. I know they are a weed and not to be encouraged but they are just gorgeous.

Last week I put in a small herb and veggie garden. You know the ads where Bunnings say they are the cheapest? Wrong! Way, way wrong. Found this at the Home Hardware store for half the price of the equivalent at the other place. Ah, no dig....the way to go.


And of course, at this time of year Summer Street kicks into gear. From the mess comes some order - eventually, but first, there is a terrible mess.



I finished the first piece today, and was quite pleased with it.



I gathered 5 lovely frames today, from recycled jarrah, aged with bits of old paint clinging to them. They came without glass but - pause to quietly rejoice - they exactly fit the glass from IKEA's frameless clips. And I had gathered some of those, still in the packaging, against a sudden dire need. I must have been channelling a boy scout at the time.

There are other things in construction, but they aren't ready for show and tell yet. Some things are further advanced than others, this one is a work in progress. Why is it that you never have the exact teeny bit you need? I think I need to make a head and face about 1.5cms high, but that's a whole 'nother story.