And so to the next challenge

I seem to have mastered the not spend any money one day a week gig, so I thought that the next challenge should be making money out of nothing. Well not out of nothing, I don't claim to be God or a magician (I would rather be anything in the world than a magician), but out of things that I already own and don't have to spend any more money on.

November is looming and with it comes the Melbourne Cup - although small town is a desert away from where the poor horses get whipped around an oval, the whole county goes horse mad and it's one of the biggest excuses to wear some hair covering craziness on the Australian social calendar. So I thought having finally liberated my feathers and flowers from their temporary home, I should put my millinery hat on when I have some spare time and get down to work.

So so so much to do before then... finish all the pieces, get Sundays off work so I can do the local market stall, win a car so I can cart everything around because the bike ain't big enough, set up some kind of web presence, source display equipment etc etc.

Better stop writing and start making!

Final Monday Freeday

So I'm definitely going to keep on keeping on with my one-woman one-day-a-week anti-consumerism drive, because I like the feeling of not having to buy stuff. But to be honest, writing about not spending money and finding free things to do in small town is not that inspiring, and there are only so many times that I can partake of and wax lyrical on the magazines at the library or free coffee from work before they mistake me for a person without a permanent abode and kick me out, or make me start coughing up for the caffeine.

Not that I'm complaining, small town is the perfect place to achieve some serious financial goals, one of which I am happy to announce is complete. Goodbye credit card #1, I won't miss your evil interest, the stress, and not to mention exorbitant fees, of having to complete an international transfer every month, the temptation to use you just because I want, not NEED but WANT, a Father Christmas costume/ Queen and Prince Philip jigsaw puzzle/ shimmery paint and mini canvases.

I use to feel that the pleasure from buying something far outweighed the pain of increased debt and interest charges, but at some point last year the financial burden started getting very weighty on my shoulders (or maybe my shoulders got weaker?) (or hopefully I finally realised how ridiculous that attitude was!), and I felt like I was going to be squashed by it. Well, only a few short months later and the world of finance feels so different and not so scary to me. Now I'm paying things off left, right and centre, enjoying the feeling of being in control of money rather than it controlling me and learning lots of good lessons from some wise people.

Yay, only credit card #2 and a student loan to go...

(P.S. I want to say a massive thank you to the universe and all the lovely people who sent free things my way, I hope that I can pay it forward somehow).

Two whole days

I'm excited as I have two days off in a row, after having three days off as well last week. I don't really know what to do with myself - so much time to kill! So far I've made eggs, taken photos of kangaroos at the back fence, fed the boys, got a parcel from the front gate and thought about my to do list and it's only 9.30am.



Lying in the sun is most definitely on the cards, I still can't get over how much sun there is in WA and how happy it makes me feel. Especially when I get to spend a Monday in it! I also had a vision of coasters with bobbly trim around them, so I'm going to fire up the machine and get making. If only I could sew in the sun...

It's so big and so smokey up there

Actually it was neither really, more busy and sunny when I went for a trip up to Perth the other day. It was with much gratitude that I hitched a lift early in the morning for a day of fossiking and nosying. Perth is a beautiful city - scattered north and south of the wide and winding Swan River, clear blue skies as far as the eye can see, lush green parks hither and thither, a fantastic mish mash of boutique brands, chocolate cafes and Tudor tributes.

Hang on... architectural nods to the motherland?



Yes indeedy, smack bang in the middle of this not yet even 200 year old city, is a hommage to that beam heavy 14th Century style of building that was dreamt up by those English folk who sent their convicts to one of the most gorgeous places in the world (btw, I think England got that completely wrong. Ah yes, lets send all the naughty people to a beautiful country with stunning scenery, amazing weather and a laid back lifestyle because they will so miss their six month winters, tube strikes and Oxford Street on a Saturday afternoon. That'll learn them!)

Rather incongruous with the rest of the main drag, but this council folly brightened an already bright day for me. I wonder if they thought it would bring in the tourists, or if they wanted to reprazent the Commonwealth or a friend of a friend has some spare lead light windows and wooden beams that fell of the back of a lorry? Anyway, I went through the archway (only half wishing a knight in shining armour would be waiting for me on the other side) and wandered along until I spied this little place...


I got chatting to the nice lady in the shop about tea cosies (made to order by her sister-in-law), what she likes to drink (regular tea for breakfast then an oolong during the day) and whether they had any books on tea (they don't). All their teas come in gorgeous wooden containers with vintagey style graphics, and I just couldn't resist buying a box of chai from her.


And three retro souvenir tablecloths from Good Sammys, but that's another story altogether.

Monday Freeday #7

Ignoring the coin dropped for further enlightenment in a nutshell, I did get a few freebies yesterday. Firstly I had a free read of the latest issue of Frankie magazine at the library on one of their comfy couches. I love this magazine, so cute! I hope my shop gets to feature in it one day.

Also had one final free soak in the spa which my work-weary joints were grateful for, but my mind had a harder time relaxing into. There is something rather weird about lolling about in hot bubbling water with strangers... it feels like people gatecrashing bath time!

The Angel

Whenever I feel like I'm missing out on the latest goss from my old hometown, I go online and check out the Guardian, especially the life and style section - usually for a little guilty Dear Mariella pleasure but also for the How To's, the gallery and all the other burning style or life issues.

Just finished reading lots of handy tips from Margaret McMullin, Britain's top housekeeper. I was heartened to note that her house in the photo didn't look like a show home at all, but actually just a normal (even slightly on the messy end of the spectrum) one.

I really miss the Sunday supplements from all the papers back at home, and when I get my shop I'm going to airfreight them over. Of course people will be reading Sunday's paper on Monday which is problematic for those that like their news completely up to date, but I like to imagine that we can do without knowing absolutely everything, at all times, as they happen. Also it will make Monday feel like Sunday which isn't a bad thing at all.

Monday is the new Sunday - I like it!

Monday Freeday FAIL

So I spent $15.00 yesterday, when I promised myself that I wouldn't spend a penny on a Monday. So sue me. It would have been to the detriment of my spiritual well being if I had have denied myself, as I broke my vow to attend "Buddhism in a Nutshell". This kind of talk doesn't happen often in small town and you need to grab at enlightenment when you can, otherwise life just becomes a blur of angry garlic bread munching people and scary sea life. And if I was organised I could have prepaid for the course so I feel completely justified in my Freeday FAIL. Kinda.

Anyway, on to more important things like what exactly was inside a Buddhist nutshell. From what I could gather it's a pretty happy place, one where you are trying to end suffering, and there was also something about wheels and noble truths which was all very interesting and definitely worth further exploration. At the end we also did a half hour guided meditation in which parts of my body completely disappeared. Meditation is quite scary sometimes, I had to keep opening my eyes to check I was still all there. Which I was thank goodness because I would have been a bit annoyed if I broke my promise to myself and then also lost the lower left side of my face.

Bridgetown shopfront

One of the exciting things about planning to open a shop is dreaming about the kind of shop I would like. I saw this place in Bridgetown yesterday...




I love the glazed tiles with the floral feature, the stained glass up high, the big picture windows and the mosaics on the floor just as you enter, but what I love the most is the glass box right in the middle that forces passers-by to stop and take notice - pretty much the most perfect display case EVER!

Do re mi fa so la oh no...

Not only am I wearing black pants with white sneakers, enjoying a good old library visit and nicking 1970's pottery from the Red Cross free bin, but I have gone and got myself ensconced in small town's local choir. Believe it or not, I am only in my early 30's (very early, thank you very much), but for some reason these "third age" inclined pursuits are becoming too hard to resist.

Is this what happens when you don't have Jesus juice and Satan sticks to hand?

Could it be that I'm finally becoming a grown up?

Am I mad to admit this?

Who knows, but whatever the reason, I am so glad that I saw the two line ad in the local rag calling for new members and gave them a ring because it was awesome. Not in a "wow, all that singing left me so uplifted" way but in a "oh my god, where are the hidden cameras because this is documentary gold" way.

Just stop for a minute and imagine the kind of people you would want to see in a show about a non-auditioned choir in a small rural town. Would they include a sprightly choirmaster who looks far younger than he is and tells long-winded anecdotes that have nothing at all to do with singing? How about a former Eastern Bloc concert pianist who studied at the conservatory, but now has the small town alto section round to hers for extra practice? What about the slightly creepy men of song in the back section, Annie Wilkes who used to run the choir but can't remember the words to the songs, and the friend of the friend who sits in the front row but doesn't actually sing because she is hard of hearing.

Such a fantastic bunch of characters, and some of the friendliest people you will ever meet.

And yes, I realise that I play my part as well... a perhaps not so early 30's person, burnt out from the big city, trying to learn how to live a new kind of life and working towards my dream.

And now with a bit of group caterwauling in between.