Busy week starting with last Thursday actually, I went up to the Blue Mountains 2 hours west of Sydney to meet Kara and to check out her creative area and also to see what her tastes are in fabrics for throws and quilts. Saw the wonderful art deco suite she won on ebay …had it trucked in from Adelaide and it was still a bargain. Kara was exactly as had imagined her to be, very open and engaging and very hospitable. Felt as if I had known her for years, not sure if that is an internet thing but seem to be able to really connect with some of the people I have met online. Maybe it is a creativity thing, finally mixing with people who are on my wavelength. Loved seeing all her fabrics in her home in the bushland setting and have a better idea of what would work for her personally. Winters in the mountains can be quite cold and we discussed how several types of throws and quilts would work well together, all modern in design with various ottomans in luscious fabrics to tie it all together. Got so carried away that I forgot my precious inspiration folder, well I was distracted after she started giving me samples and fabric scraps and a great sampler book.
We rushed off to check out a series of second hand dealers under one roof emporium type place, they had some great coloured glass vases but am so clumsy that I did not trust myself on the train for two hours with anything breakable. After dashing through there Kara dropped me off at the station with plenty of time to get seated for the return journey.
Yesterday my son and I went shopping in our newish Westfield mall, where we once saw Sandra Bullock on a promotional visit. As we ducked into Borders she went whizzing by on the scary escalator up to the cinema complex. Also frequently see David Wenham with his family shopping and many other Aussie celebrities. We do not do anything except nod and look away as feel they are entitled to their lives with their families without interruption. So while we were up there we went up to the other end of town where the prices of rents are way lower and went into a church run charity shop which always impresses me by how well run it is but also how pleasant the whole charity shopping experience is there. Afterwards I realised that my previous experiences with the charity shop where I live have almost always been tempered with me being careful of the staff, in not offending them by saying the wrong thing, in trying to deal with staff who are uncommunicative to the point of rudeness one day and appallingly rude at times to customers on another. It is almost as if there is another standard for workers in charity shops, it would help if they remembered they are there to serve the public not to take their frustrations out on us. And by workers I mean paid workers, I am sure some allowances are made for volunteers although they are screened these days before they start working for charities.
So both myself and my son had a really pleasant experience, my goodness I had almost forgotten what that was like. I found a cute embroidered blouse and a lovely vase to go with my pottery collection and then best of all delved into their superbly organised fabric section where I found over two meters of stunning floral upholstery fabric and a bag of mixed scraps. Best of all it only came to $20.40 and they have a reward card for spending over $20! How good is that?
The fabric bag of scraps was $3.50
The fabric was $4.50
The vase was $3.00
The embroidered tray cloth $1.90
The shirt was $7.50
