Knitting Wool & Tapestry - The Shopaholic strikes again!

I know I promised to stop shopping for a while but I just couldn't help myself today!! I walked into a shop, a huuuuge shop, and right there in front of me was the biggest basket of wool on sale that I have ever seen!

So, being the shopaholic that I am, I filled up my shopping trolley so high that I couldn't reach the top and couldn't see around it!! Naturally, the minute I moved it, it all came tumbling down all over the floor! Lucky for me, there were two girls on the counter and they came and picked it all up again and dragged me and my trolley over to the counter. So, about an hour later, they had split all the wool up into two giant lay-byes for me..... In my usual true style, I fanned out a selection of credit cards across the counter and said.... "begin on the left and work your way across the lot until one of them works!!"

I have a sneaking suspicion that those two girls were glad to see the back of me today!!

Luckily for me and my credit cards.. the Mother In Law got a clean bill of health from the Heart Specialist today so she was feeling fit and able to drag me kicking and screaming (shamefully embarrassing!!) from the Dress Fabrics Section!

But I was strong!!!! I finally refused to walk into the dress fabrics section, even though I was drooling like a Saint Bernard over the selections in the sale cattle dog. I did sneakily order some lengths of quilted calico tho.. just for one of the members of the Old Maids and Nightmares Friday Sewing Club..... hmmmmm I just remembered..... I think that name is being bandied around Dubbo a bit today!!!

Then I had to walk past the loveliest collection of tapestry fabrics... sighhhh!!!! you know me and my tapestries! There went another lay-bye and another march of the credit cards!

Sew much fabric... Sew little time!

Round and round the garden.....

Hello everyone. I am tired tonight. It has been a long day but very interesting with all the visitors that dropped in with a bit of news or some craft items. Johnny stopped in and planted a lovely garden tub at the front door of the shop (a big old recycled cement laundry tub!) but he wouldn't stop for a coffee today (such a busy little bee!). I will have to ask Damir to donate one or two of his thoroughbred organic (hand reared!) worms to the garden tub.

I met a new lady today who makes "browbands" for show horses. Something new that I have never seen. She offered to call in tomorrow and help us with our webpage 'cause we have no idea what we are doing! I am dying to see what a horse's headband looks like!!!!

Sharon dropped in a basket full of "sparkly sequins and beads", leftover from her days as a "ballerina" (a VERY long time ago!!), which will be very welcome by the "Old Maids and Nightmares" Friday Sewing Club.

Lil stopped in for knitting needles (is it that time of year again already?) and prompted me to order more size 3's, the most popular size it seems!

Fay offered a collection of jeans for my mountains of patches that I seem to be doing daily! A simple patch is $5 or $9, replace zip is $9 and a simple hem is $5.... it's not much but it buys the milk and bread and keeps me occupied and out of mischief!

Sam, Joyce and Dulcie have been slaving away in here all day as usual while I pretend to know what I am doing.

Vicky and Betty brought in beautiful handmade items for Mother's Day. Lacy edged handtowels, hand worked needle cases and lovely home made beaded tassels (last week's sewing club lesson!).

Betty has become one of the die-hards and is still out the back room pounding away at the internet shop. We are attempting to teach each other how to sell stuff on the internet... it's NOT a pretty sight!!!! I am supposed to be doing some "paid work" so I can pay the staff this week but I snuck away while no one is looking to have a little gasbag in here!

The absentee landlord has returned for a few weeks and networked my computers together so that Betty and I can work at the same time.... Somehow squeezing the pair of us in the "norty corner" to use only one computer has NOT been working!! And no amount of shoving and heaving has managed to fit us in there together! I think he did it more to save the weight loading on his floor rather than to help me! I peeked into the back room a while ago and Betty looks just a little too comfortable in there!!! I don't think she will go home tonight!!! If her husband has to park his 18 wheeler out the front and drag her outta the place the neighbours will have a good show to watch!

I better get going... will need some clever idea to lure Betty outta the backroom before she grows roots into my chair!!

If anyone has any old wool or ends of balls that are no longer needed.... or any kind of old string or rope that can be used for macrame... we will be happy to take it off your hands for the Friday Sewing Club.. ... One man's trash is another man's treasure!

leave a message or send an email if you have any craft supplies you want to get rid of.... memoriesandmayhem@bigpond.com

night for now...

Budsy's Coffee Shop

The best coffee in Gulargambone is served in Budsy's Coffee Shop (which shares my floorspace). One of the everfaithful die-hard customers pointed out that I have failed to discuss the wonderful coffee that is served here! Being a great lover of coffee myself, it's nice to hear customers say that they love the coffee we serve too!

When the ongoing drought forced young Budsy to downgrade his hamburger cafe to a smaller service we all begged him to "Keep the Coffee" pleeeeease! I don't know about other people but I love good, hot, well flavoured, thickly foamed cappucino. I am not "into" fancy coffees and the long list of boutique coffees that are offered on every corner now just make me tired. I just want it hot, tasty, fluffy and Aussie!!! I am a bush granny and I love my coffee in a big cup or mug and hot enuff to melt the spoon! It's not cappucino unless it leaves you with a fluffy milk moustache either!

So if you are travelling out west... make a pit stop at Memories & Mayhem in the main street (opposite the pub!) and try out Budsy's coffee!
PS... mention this site and get 2 coffees for the price of one!!! (I better duck for cover when Budsy hears about that one!!)

What a day!

Well today was pretty interesting.

I went to work at my "real job" today ('cause someone has to earn enuff cash to employ the cute little girls that I have chained to the counter in here!) and one of the residents at the hostel took it into his head to take a sprint across the paddock and try to make it back to his old home. There I am, sitting in a meeting with a Govt pen pusher, all prim and proper and professional like, and the door bursts open and one of the carers comes in screaming that *Old Joe has taken a sprint across the paddock. So we all take off and the girls are screaming for him to come back and I yell "keep an eye on him while I call 000" and I run (now THAT's a funny image!) back inside to ring for help. Now on TV calling 000 is just sooooo easy.... but in reality... in the bush... it aint. I get the usual calm voice asking "fire, police, ambulance" so I select police and ambulance on the grounds that I have an 80 yr old man in a full sprint heading into a HUUUUUUUGE forest and would like a big burly man in a fast noisy car to come and help us chase him down BEFORE he gets too deep into the woods... and an ambulance on standby in case he has had a heartattack by the time we reach him. Well... you can't do that.. u gotta pick one... so SHE picks police and puts me through to the local station (which we KNOW is never manned during the day) and I get the full long no-one is gunna ansa ringtone.... meanwhile I can see the old bugger disappearing into the tree line!... so I hang up and ring 000 again and this time ask for ambulance.... I get ambulance dispatch this time... and a very slow talking, longwinded operator that doesn't know where this town is so wants lots of details about location... I keep telling her where we are and where he is disappearing into! but no... she wants details, details, details. I describe the well known local location that he has just passed at high speed on his way into the forest.... not good enuff... got house numbers??? I say AGAIN.. he is over 80 yrs old... has dementia... is disappearing at high speed into a huge dense forest and I REALLY need to get a car out there to head him off.... and she says... "oh!.. so he is awake and coherent then?" I said... "at the speed he is moving I would assume so." "Does he have any injuries?" "Well, at the speed he took off across the paddock I couldn't really tell...." so I give up and end the call... the Govt official sitting opposite my desk is quite fascinated by this turn of events and the helpfullness of 000 as the old man disappears into the bush. As I grab the car keys the phone rings again and this time its Tamworth police station (four hours away) responding to my 000 call... I say thanks for calling but I called an ambulance instead when the police didn't answer so she insists on a full explanation of all the events. Gawd! Meanwhile, the Govt official is sitting quite wide eyed and amused at this ongoing saga and the old bloke is still heading bush!

I FINALLY get the car out on the road and can't see him or the staff anywhere... so I head for the bush and there are the two women (one of them with a dicky heart too!) climbing a barbwire fence and the old bugger is no where to be seen! So I head for the main road and forest.... but the access road is over a kilometre away in the opposite direction so by the time I catch up with them all they have found him. Apparently he disappeared into the grass and that's why they took off to chase him down when no help came. Luckily they saw where he disappeared and found him "having a rest" in the long grass. As we bundled him into my car the ambulance arrived... NOT where I specifically directed it to... but at the hostel where I called from!! on the OTHER FLAMING SIDE of the paddock. So luckily he didn't have a heartattack or any serious injuries and I DID have my mobile phone on me... cause otherwise the ambulance was about as useful as a pocket in ya speedos. Oh yes... the police arrived too... about 45 minutes later!
and THAT was only the first hour of my day!!!!

What's in my shop?

Let me see. There are so many interesting things in my shop that I don't know where to start.

The main products are sewing and craft supplies and beautiful handcrafted items. All the craft stores closed out here in the middle of nowhere and you have to drive for hours to get to the nearest sewing shop these days.

And of course.... with my serious shopping addiction..... leaving me alone with a sewing catalogue and a credit card is a recipe for disaster (or at least Bankruptcy!). The kids have tried to take away my catalogues.. but I fooled em and got online! They have hidden my credit cards.... but PayPal gets me around that one! and if all else fails.... there is always "direct deposit" with the cash I sneak outta the till when no one is looking!!

So with my shopping addiction and the world of Ebay at my fingertips we have accumulated a pretty crazy range of items for sale. Like I said, sewing and craft is the main range.... all sorts of needles and pins, knitting needles and a little wool (especially that fluffy stuff everyone loves making scarves out of!), old fashioned knitting bags, every kind of zipper that you can imagine, Madeira Embroidery threads, quilting, patchwork and scrapbooking stuff etc etc etc..... all spread out along one wall.

The rest of the shop is chocka full of handmade craft items from a huge range of women in the local and surrounding community. I only have a three restrictions on the craft that people put in my shop on consignment: Firstly it must be "hand made original items", secondly it must be top quality (of course it ALWAYS is!) and thirdly, no-one can "copy" someone else's idea. I spent 10 years working in a community craft shop in Gilgandra and these were their main principles for top quality, original craft items and what worked then still works now.

I don't know about you, but I see so much of what I call "Industrial Craft" everywhere these days (you know what I mean, all the mass produced "craft" products that you see in every chemist and gift store) that I avoid stocking these items. We have two shops in this town that stock these products already, and while it is always lovely (and usually very expensive!) it is not "my thing" so I have been quite happy to avoid branching into these lines and it is also unnecessary to try to compete with other little stores in an already small marketplace. (But I must admit to a small weakness! I don't mind going to these other shops and buying a "piece or two" for myself that I find totally irresistible!!!). Even as I sit here typing, I have a delightful (commercially crafted) bright green "Frog" doll made from craft fabrics and holding a "stitchery" that says "Sew Seeds of Love" that is just perfect in my little work corner. I couldn't walk past it at a street sale held by the local Rural Transaction Centre (my particular weakness I am ashamed to admit!). It was one of a pair but I was pressured to part with her mate to a determined customer but I stashed this one away and NO-ONE gets the frog!

As I am still just learning to navigate my way through this "blog" type webpage thingy I get the feeling (possibly from the tapping on the forehead from the computer Supergeek!) that I shouldn't talk so much this time and have decided (please let him be pleased with this earthshattering decision!) to separate any further discussion on all the parts of the shop into separate "stories" instead of one looooooooooooong huuuuuuuuuuuuge monologue!!! Aint ya lucky about that!!!

Old Things – Episode 3

My little shop has finally settled into building number 4 (and absolutely the LAST time I am moving too!) and this building is an old Greek Cafe. It was the Golden Key Cafe and was built way back in the early 30's I think... (or at least the carpet looks that old!) by another local character called "Nick the Greek"... Now I get a little confused 'cause the shop around the corner (Fergie's Corner Store) was also built by "Nick the Greek" but apparently it is TWO different blokes! All I can figure is that any male Greek person is called "Nick the Greek" around here! But... after that long roundabout chatter, what I really wanted to say was that amongst the collection of old things (and NOT the customers thank you!) that turned up here, was a lovely silver platter. It is pretty large and has all swirly flowers around the edge and was (so I am reliably told!) one of the trays used by the cafe waitresses in the 60's to serve milkshakes (you know the old fashioned kind in icey cold stainless steel tall cups with a frosty glass on the side). I am also reliable told that the donator of this interesting item was herself a "Cafe Cowgirl" and served frosty milkshakes in this very cafe..... (although it's a little hard these days to picture her dancing around the cafe in white cowboy boots and a flippy little skirt!). But then again... she popped in this morning to drop in a cake mix for me to cook (does she realise the risks involved in letting ME cook????) and was complaining about the pain in her back today..... It seems that she was watching "Fame" on TV last night and took it into her head to dance for the ENTIRE movie!!! She was feeling a little on the stiff side this morning and was also a little concerned that she had been "sprung" by a neighbour while mid dance and wondered if "insane" was in the conversation! I said "Well, at least you weren't naked!!" hmmmmmmm (genuinely hoping that she wasn't !) but she was apparently dressed only in a sarong... Now given the highly active dance routines in "Fame" and the precarious nature of the staying power of a "sarong" I think the neighbour should be glad that she sprung her still "dressed" !!!

Sewing Club - Day one

Well hello again people!

Today my little shop was invaded by a huge group of post menopausal women..... all wanting to learn something new to get their minds off their big dusty country husbands..... hmmmmmm what can we do together that is not illegal... not immoral (cause one or two were good Christian women!).... and not likely to damage the load limit on these old floors (so pole dancing was definitely out of the question!!)

All those restrictions didn't leave us a lot of choices for interesting activities so one of the bright sparks decided to start a Sewing Club right in the middle of my tea room!....

They pushed a couple of grey haired old dears outta the way... cleared off a table or two and dragged all sorts of bits and pieces out of these huuuuuuuuuuuge shopping bags..... ya know the kind crafty women carry around (great big monsters with all sorts of bits and bobs hanging all over them - the bags that is ... not the women!!!!)

The sewing class began. Sedately of course.... nice and quiet and all respectful and ever so "nice"... ahhhhhh just the sort of image I had for my little shop........
But:

A fire engine went screaming past.... sirens blazing.... lights flashing..... so naturally.... a bunch of women aint gonna let that kind of excitement go unnoticed.....
so..... being the conscientious shop keeper that I am...
I grabbed the car keys and said "watch the shop... I'm outta here to see whats happening".... luckily I didn't have my bus with me or they ALL woulda piled in!

Unfortunately, my neighbours house was on fire.... I was horrified... my heart was beating so fast... and it was getting harder to breath... the fire was in my neighbours house but only the back shed was on fire.... but still.... I had to stop the car and rest a minute..... that damn fireman was soooo totally gorgeous!!!!!

Of course the house was saved.... my pulse slowed down... I remembered (momentarily only) that I have a boyfriend at home.... so I sighed... and went back to the shop.

Oh yes.. forgot I was talking about the sewing class.... When I got back... and pushed them all back outta the doorway so I could get inside the damn shop..... I had to tell everybody what I saw.... oh yes... the fire too!

Today in Sewing Group... they picked their new name..... Old Maids & Nightmares ... apparently..... one of the husbands has branded us all with the name and its stuck... just like the craft glue... roll me in stars and confetti and there we were... renamed.... all stuck together now forever I reckon!

First sewing lesson was how to attach applique pictures on teatowels and blanket stitch around them. Apparently, next week we will make these little treasures into bags and potholders. Lovely. Well... not so lovely if you were watching all the blind bats trying to thread those teeeeny tiny needles!

Old Things - Episode 2

Anyway...

I have been thinking about the things people bring to me to "display" in my little shop to remember their special people that have passed.

Annie brought me a bright red tin teapot called a "shearer's pot" that has passed through several families in the town and now resides on my top shelf. Last week, she brought me a jar of buttons that belonged to Ivy Lemon (a well known resident for many many years). My Quilting friend, Betty Boop, sorted them out immediately and collected all the original pearl buttons and planned a "memory patchwork" in Ivy's name to hang on the wall. Yesterday, Annie brought some of Ivy's lace collars to add to the collage. And do you know what? I recognised the ancient lace collars straight away because I have the original 1920's patterns for those collars (also from another old lady that passed away in early 80's and had passed her pattern collections on to my mother and subsequently on to me). Anyway.... Betty Boop grabbed the collar and decided on the perfect collage with a stitchery and the antique pearl buttons for the patchwork piece. When it's all finished (and we learn next week how to upload pictures into this crazy space!) someone better remind me to pop in a picture of the finished work.

Here we go again ... gotta go make a milkshake... ya know the kind I mean.. all icey cold in a stainless steel tumber with a frosty glass on the side... be back soon!

Old things

OK, before any of you smarty pants say a word..... No... I am not referring to me or my girlfriends!

Well ... then maybe... if I was truly honest and admitted to the mental image of me, in the early morning sunlight, huffing and puffing as I struggled to reach over my huge (but very soft and warm like an expensive pillow!) belly so that I could drag my fashionably black diabetic preferred socks over my tired old toes.... then yes, maybe I could accept that the term "old" may now be ever so slightly attached to my image... sighhhhhhhhh

But that was not want I was intending to chat about today. However, If there was even the remotest interest from the viewing public I could possibly be, ever so slightly, lured into further discussions about the more interesting aspects of my life..... but then again... I don't know whether the moderator of this site has any sense of humour at all!

Now where was I??

Oh yes... Old Things... now I can't remember what I wanted to talk about. Bugger! (If I was clever enuff I could have my computer playing that "thinking" music now - must make mental note to ask computer SuperGeek how to do tricky stuff like that!)

Anyway.... the thought I had this morning was about the way my little shop seems to attract "collections" of old stuff. I don't know if it's the shop or me but people keep bringing me things that belonged to people that have passed on long ago but are still very near and dear.

When I started in the "first" shop (please see the first story for THAT saga!) I found a picture of a little boy and his dog. The boy is about 4 years old and has golden curls and is sitting on a bench with his back to me... the bench is on the edge of a lake or inlet and he is cuddled up next to a dog that is slightly taller than him and he has his arms wrapped around the dog and they are both sitting peacefully, watching the water... It's hard to explain but its a wonderful picture.. probably new but made to look really old and it just epitomised the theme that I had in mind for my shop. Old things, fun things, things you remembered from childhood holidays spent with grandparents or aunties on the coast or in the country. "Memories & Mayhem"

You know the kind of things I mean, Nana was always busy in the kitchen making meat pies or boiling up sugar and lemons for cordial. Dinner meant rows of kids squeezed along the bench that took up the whole side of a huge timber table. Nana's chair was always closest to the stove and the sink and Grandfather had exclusive rights to the end of the table... (no climbing over kids and gangly legs for Grandfather) but we were always wary of the looooooong stick that he had beside his chair. Any naughtiness at the table resulted in the whole row getting a quick "whack" across the knees at the same time. And of course.. there was always the clever trouble maker who stirred up the rest then pulled his legs up really quickly before the stick swung into action! Dinner at my Nan's house was served in three sittings... first the babies and littlies were fed, then the general collection of children were done next... then when we were all fed and moved off for baths, jammies etc the "adults" could eat a peaceful meal around the table. Nana always had her special cup and saucer that no one was allowed to touch.. I remember it was gold coloured and all sort of shimmery in the light. Now that I too am "old" I recognise the kind of glassware it was. I remember my Mother's tears when the family home burned down long after Nana passed away and the cup and saucer was lost forever.

Oops! customers coming in for hot, fluffy coffees. Be back soon.

My shop My town

Hello happy shoppers. Today is the first day of the rest of my life!! And after wrestling with this computer for so long.... it may be a very short life!!!

I have a tiny little craft shop in a tiny little town in the middle of absolutely nowhere in outback NSW Australia.

There are only 500 people within a 10 square kilometre radius (including cats and dogs!) and of course the people that "know" constantly bemoan the fact that the town is dying and we should all abandon the ship while we can! However..... I have lived here for over 30 years and when I arrived in 1975 there were only 500 people within a 10 square kilometre radius (including cats and dogs!) and guess what..... there still are!!!! so... by my calculations.... (taking off my shoes and socks to count of course!!) every time someone dies... someone else is born.. and everytime someone leaves.... someone else arrives.... we won't talk about the cats and dogs!!!

Well anyway... now that I have your attention...

I suppose I should talk about my interesting little shop... it's one of those funny little projects that mad women get once they hit menopause.... ya know the kind of thing I am talking about... One day Mum is working for living and travelling everyday and everything is normal... then one day... after a mad rush of hot flushes... she comes home with a tattoo on her shoulder!!! well.. hmmmmmmm what do you do?

Just a minute customer is coming ???

My little town

Well, as you can imagine there is not a lot of "formal" entertainment like you would see in the big city but we do have our "moments" here.

We have the usual assortment of clubs and pubs (the pub sells the best "Old" beer in Australia so I am reliably told!) and of course I sell the best coffee! The Wallaby Track cooks a mean hamburger and the 2828 Tourist Centre hosts a lot of parties and gatherings.

Gulargambone has the most beautiful sunrises and sunsets in the southern hemisphere and lots of native wildlife (and not only those cute hunky country boys!) Hmmmm just having a thought about those hunky country boys in the big heavy utes with 20 aerials hanging off the bullbar and spotlights that can boil a billy at 200 metres!

better shutup before the moderator closes me down... lucky he can't see what I am thinking!!!!

When I learn how to use this site (and my computer) I will add a link to the 2828 website for you 'cause it has all the pretty pictures and local tourist information!

Memories and Mayhem Gulargambone

Our small town in the NSW Australia has only 500 residents. But we are proud of our small craft shop where you can bring in your craft and we will sell it for you. This little gift will make some one happy.

Gulargambone

Ooops! forgot to say that my little craft shop is in Gulargambone NSW Australia

memoriesandmayhem.com

Well people. Since my first accidental venture into this mysterious blogspot I have somehow managed to create my own webpage for my little country craft shop in outback NSW Australia. The shop is called Memories and Mayhem and we sell craft and sewing items for old fashioned handcrafts like sewing, knitting, crotcheting and quilting. Because we are in the middle of nowhere and have just come to the end (we hope!) of seven years of drought, it is hard to buy craft and sewing stuff so that is why I opened my little shop with the help of a few very good friends.

I have a shop on ebay....

http://stores.ebay.com.au/Memories-And-Mayhem


and my own website which will have a shopping cart (when I learn how to do it!)

http://www.memoriesandmayhem.com


and a crazy dream to make a new career for me and my family and friends with our sewing and craft products and individual creations.

Blogging Virgin Day two - how do you find your blog?

Hello again ppls.

Well today I learned something new about blogging. I was at my daughter's computer instead of mine and decided to search for the blog I started last night. And guess what. I couldn't find the damn thing anywhere! So I gave up in the end and learned that it's all very well to "own" a blog, but finding the bloody thing when you want it is impossible!!

So now I am home again and wondered how to find the flaming thing on my computer so I took a chance and opened the favourites and thankfully located the link to the tricky little bugger in there. So, here I am again having another rave into what I now realise is probably a meaningless void in cyberspace. I have a distinct feeling that no one will ever see this blog and even I can't find it to show anyone that I know (on the off chance that they might be interested in blogging along with me). I wonder if the infamous "my space" is the same kind of setup and if it is... then why all the hoo haa about posting personal crap in "my space" 'cause it's extremely unlikely that anyone other than the author will ever see it.

I learned another thing also.... no matter how hard I try or what I search or change in my settings I can't receive the confirmation email for the free blogging course.

bye for now... better see if there is anywhere else that I can waffle on and find someone to access it and waffle back!

Lets begin at the beginning

Well, Well, Well, this is a new experience for me. I have never tried to "blog" before and have never even seen or read a blog. (and quite honestly, I still have absolutely no idea what I am doing!)

However, I have recently been introduced to a very interesting site called seghosting.com which is a little freebie site that helps the "internet illiterate" get a start with webpages and advertising and communicating on a business or community level with other people with similar interests without all the high costs and hard yards that the commercial sites have.

Now seghosting.com pays its way by offering advertising space for all sorts of interesting things and one of the ads that I came across was for this site which is currently offering a Blogging Course for free!! Well... I thought to myself... why not give it a go... after all .. . the price is certainly right!

In exchange for the blogging course and getting this free "blog" (remember I am a Blogging Virgin so please be gentle with me!) all I have to do is post a thingy in here that advertises the company that provided it all for free..... so here goes folks... wish me luck with cut and paste!

I'm evaluating a multi-media course on blogging from the folks at Simpleology. For a while, they're letting you snag it for free if you post about it on your blog.

It covers:

• The best blogging techniques.
• How to get traffic to your blog.
• How to turn your blog into money.

I'll let you know what I think once I've had a chance to check it out. Meanwhile, go grab yours while it's still free.

Hmmmmmmm... I have absolutely no idea what all that is ... but its done! correctly I hope! Apparently it has something to do with evaluating the course that is being offered for free before it becomes a commercial enterprise.

Well I think I have flapped my gums enuff for tonight.... perhaps I will be successful posting this blog and maybe I will find my way back to it tomorrow night for a second chapter!