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| New on the website - French Art Deco ceramic vase |
We are so over
the wet season, now. Thank goodness
Eumundi doesn’t flood, as so many other towns do, and at home we’re always safe
and sound in the mountain stronghold. If
we start flooding at 200m above sea level the rest of you are in big
trouble. We had hoped for some fine
weather so we could tidy the place up in preparation for the bank’s valuer
visiting. But of course he gave us less
than 24 hours notice, and of course we weren’t ready. The place hasn’t had a decent mow for ages
because it’s been too wet, and the house is full of stock boxes that we’re still unpacking. Plus it’s a framing workshop right now
because we’ve sold so many pictures lately that some urgent framing was necessary. All in all, not the best presentation for the
bank dude.
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| New on the website - Amber glass butterfly tray |
But we want to do something the bank doesn’t readily
approve of – which is to borrow significantly less than they want us to borrow, and initially build to lock-up and then project manage the rest ourselves as we put together the funds to undertake different stages. And doing something they regard as unorthodox requires Official Inspections,
apparently. I swear, it’s harder to
borrow less than to borrow more! But
anyway, it’s done now so hopefully we can give the nod to the builder in the next
little while. And you all thought this
would never happen. Yea of little faith.
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| New on the website - Huntley & Palmer vintage tin, Prunis design |
Notwithstanding the bad weather, it’s again been an
excellent week in the shop. The copper
wall is looking very sad and depleted, so I really must jolly Doug along to get
some more cleaned up for me. Jewellery
is moving consistently, as it always does, but this week it’s also been French
enamelware, Art Deco glass and some textiles.
Naturally, almost every thing I photographed for inclusion on the
website this week has already sold in the shop, so I’ve had to drag the camera
back out and try again. We have no
shortage of good stock to display, but I do wonder how all the customers know
to buy the things I have just finished photographing for the website. I find glass to be particularly hard to
photograph effectively (in case you hadn’t noticed) but I shall make a
concerted effort this week.
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| Artemis has been teaching Caleb the finer points of stalking magpies. Our enclosed verandah means that all birds are safe, and the magpies know it and take every opportunity to taunt the Gang. And the Gang loves it. |
But while waiting for the copper and long lost stock from
the shipping container to be unpacked, Doug dug out a big box of vintage kimono
and sari fabrics that I packed away a few years ago. They’re really lovely, mostly silk but also
cotton and some silk/cotton blends, so I’ve spent a few days cataloguing some
of it, ironing it and presenting it for sale.
I haven’t offered vintage textiles before other than the French linen we
bring back from each buying trip, so we’ll see how it goes.
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| Four out of five moggies agree - Magpies would make a Fine Lunch. |
Meanwhile, we set off to look at the local antiques Fair
on the weekend, probably the biggest in the region. Yet again, I proved to be the world’s worst
photojournalist by forgetting to bring my camera with me. But there was nothing of note to photograph
anyway. This Fair is a fraction of the
size of the big English and French Antiques Fairs, and yet it is so, so much
more expensive. Fancy having to go to Europe to find prices cheaper than
Nambour! By way of comparison, I have an
amber glass plate in my shop that features fishes in the centre, and I have
$22 on it. At the Nambour Fair I saw the
same plate for $82! Get out.
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| If only you could get to them! As usual, Caleb breaks cover early and ruins the stalk for everyone. |
I always come away from that Fair very cranky at their
prices, and now I’m starting to feel withdrawal about not going to Europe and
attending some decent Fairs with decent prices, which normally we would be
doing in the next few weeks. I know it
was part of the plan for 2013, but objectively planning for something and then
actually doing it turns out to be harder than I was expecting. I want to go to France
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| New in the shop, and soon on the website - vintage Japanese Kimono silk. I'm very pleased with the beautiful textiles we are now offering, and we have a lot because I've been buying them for years but not selling them until now, so fingers crossed that they prove to be popular. |
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