Coffee Addict

Now that looks better!

I have traveled,  and I'm a coffee addict.
I only have two a day unless I'm out and about with friends, and then I may have another one, but I like my coffee, and I will not waste my addiction to a bad one.
 I would prefer to waste a coffee paid for, that was not worth drinking, than to suffer the coffee.
In most of Australia this is not a problem, In some country areas the coffee can be questionable, but in the cities its easy to find great coffee.
When traveling... Thats another story.
     We all know that America can't brew coffee! for all the technique the large franchises have they still produce a swill thats near impossible to swallow.  I sort of expected that. What I didn't except was some of the other places I've traveled to.
 Turkey produces a sludge that you have to be genetically programed to drink and when they try to make a modified version fit for european consumption it plummets to a bitter brown pondscum ..
I'm sorry to say this because I have a special place in my heart for Spain,  but it too fell below expectation.
I tried several places, from local bars to the grander hotels and it was pretty much the same . They reheat the milk over and over again so the result is bitter and the coffee was often too hot to drink and the milk full of air. The result was not smooth and creamy but airy, hot and bitter.  Thailand, Asia in general, don't even ask, really, a waste of time.   The English have seldom  heard of real coffee, what they offer is a freeze dried can of instant dirty water.
 Its been a long time since I've traveled to Italy or Greece, so I'm hoping the antidecendants of our coffee culture are holding up their end and haven't lost their touch.  but I think maybe its the children have grown taller than the parents.  We have built on the foundations of Greece, Italy,Turkey and Spain and created a much more drinkable drug..
When I arrived home from my travels, I awoke on the first morning and my first waking thought was, "Coffee" I pulled on some trackydacs and headed for my local ...Ahhhh!!! OMG! thank you Ali...Now one more please for the road....

Art of Questionable Talent

Looking down into a bowl of dusty potpourri, thinking it was time for it to go, I picked out the seed pods from the wood shavings and thought there must be something I could use these on.  Then!!  I remembered some frames I'd picked up on one of my walks around the throw outs...Frames are a common sight, people buy cheap pictures to decorate a room and when tired of the picture, throw the whole thing out ..

I'm not suggesting you take home art of questionable talent and hang it just because you found it in the street and "its a bargain", but if you're looking for a mirror or some artwork to spruce up the kids rooms, don't dismiss the ones you find on the street.

I had to add to the seed pods, but they are easily found on a walk around the neighborhood and when the frame was done I put it in the store toilet.  I drizzled scented oil onto the pods and it gave the room a wonderful smell.        To glue the pods to the frame, give the frame a good rough up with sand paper and then use a thick glue like liquid nails.

The other one I started with a broken christmas decoration.  The kissing fish, I added another one that wasn't broken, but what the hell!!  The tree won't miss it next year.



I painted the frame white, found some shells - there is always a jar of shells in my house, for some reason its impossible to walk along a beach and not pick them up - and the blue stones were stolen from the fish bowl!!  They won't miss them either!!

 I have used seed pods and christmas decorations.
But its possible to use anything.  Small toys, broken china, old tiles, rusty old nuts and bolts I think would look good for a boys room.  Look around the house with new eyes and you will find many many ideas ...

  I have to apologize  for the quality of the photos, its difficult to take a photo of a mirror and not have a reflection in it.  I tried inside and I tried outside, and these are unfortunately the best.

Advertising Terrorism

"Let your fingers do the walking" ..!! Let me walk my fingers around the neck of the irresponsible dimwit who came up with that bit of advertising terrorism, and is responsible for the avalanche of brainless, puerile, witless, inane, moronic, nonsensical, stupid questions ever asked.  It helps that the asker is on the other end of a phone line and cannot see the look on your face when she/he asks "Will I feel exposed in that?" or "Will it suit me?" "Will it fit me? " or "What does it look like?" It helps not to include them in the neck wringing!!  One or two silly or redundant questions a day is about my limit , excluding of course, the ones that are there to advance a conversation ie:  "Is it hot out or what!??" when its 44 degrees!!  One of the beauties I've witnessed is... A woman rings a friend's jewellery store for a quote and time line to have  her diamond cluster ring remodeled/melted into a solitaire as she was so over small diamonds!!! (well aren't we all!!! ) my friend informed her of an approximate time line and the woman hung up!!! For those who don't know, but knew it was a long time, 1-3 billion years!!!

Some common phone inquires are "Will my boyfriend/girlfriend like it? fit it? suit it?  If I want it will it still be here next week?  I know its obvious but for those that don't think it is, how am I supposed to know?!!!!

Centurions waving ak47s  from the bridge
as corseted medieval nurses tend the sick..

I've been asked for a corseted medieval nurses outfit.  I informed the customer that there was no such thing, but if its a fantasy, well I might be able to do something!!!!!  I was told I didn't know squat!!!

I have been asked "How do I get to the party dressed as a .........?" I have been asked for corsets with Roman, Egyptian, Greek and medieval costumes and I've even been asked for AK47s for  roman soldier's uniforms.  No one under the age of 25 knows what a petticoat is.  I have also been woken in the middle of the night to be asked on the emergency number!! what time do I open the shop!!!  You get where I'm going here.  These are just some that I have remembered while writing this post.  Letting your fingers do the walking is not supposed to let you off the hook from your brain doing the thinking!!  MY suggestion is when requesting information about opening times, costume ideas, size range, I don't need to know whose party it is, what your relationship to the party person is, where the party is being held or where your going afterwards.....and.... ps; its always nice if you ask if its a convenient time to answer inquires!!

INHEIRITANCE !!!

Inheritance...
Now there is a loaded word.  Like a shotgun sighted and ready to explode at any family funeral.  Perhaps even before that event..
    Ever taken down a painting from the wall to change things around a bit and found a little coloured sticker on the back with the name of a loved one or other family member?   How did that get there ?... When was it put there?   How long has that particular piece been coveted by that family member?   How many other little coloured stickers are you going to find ?  You start going over your rooms like a politician looking for bugs...      Who else has thought to get in early?
   Would you,  put dibs on some coveted piece before the old relative  is cold or would you wait and see what comes your way,  fight it out with the living, or throw a guilt ridden bone to the old loved one in the hope it comes your way with out a fight.  How much do you want that "thing" ..What are you prepared to barter for the spoils...

The biggest problem with finding an heir.   By heir I just mean the person who gets to be the custodian of the odd bits of china and the old Turkish rug thats fraying in the back room.  The one that you were left with by the previous custodian, who was left it by the one before that ....
These things have been around all your life, you grew up with them.  Lightning would strike you if you threw them out ..
So its important to choose wisely.  Who is more likely to feel sentimental?.. and... who is the one that will hock it before your cold?   Important stuff !  Your not just passing on an old rug, a pair of earrings or bits of old china.  Your passing on the memory of your parents and your grandparents.  They put their trust in you. This is the rug that your mum played on as a child.  The one her grandfather gave her grandmother as a wedding gift.  These things are the ones to keep!..to be continued ..passed down...
I really don't care who gets the house ..I will have probably have spent that before I leave ..but if its left ,..They can fight over it until the second coming, I don't care! ..What keeps me up is, who gets the china and the turkish rug and who thinks they won because they did!..............

The chairs you see in these photos are part of a suite, a two seater, two tubs and four single chairs they are hand carved victorian ebonized mahogany.( I'm not certain about the wood as the ebonizing hides the grain)  To find a complete suite is rare, near impossible these days and this one was offered in a house contents sale with discarded bits of mismatched china and old rugs.  Left to the wrong relative, I think and hocked.  In its day this would have been a prohibitive purchase.  A well thought out buy to pass the test of time and last the distance

there are four of these 

I hope I've done justice to these chairs I found a piece of the original green silk and I've tried to match it as close as possible ..while still making them fit todays tastes..

I had to strip the upholstery right back .
it was worth it !

These victorian sofas make great bedroom chairs 

With all the chairs I find thrown out or discarded in garage sales that I restore, I write what I know of their history.  Where I found them, and the condition I found them in.  If I have a piece of the original fabric I put that and a gift to the future in, a few coins or a silver charm I put all this in a small plastic zip lock bag and staple it to the interior of the chair ..so one day,  the next person to restore the chair will have a little bit of the past to go on and perhaps will continue the story and put his or her contribution in the bag and put it back in the chair for the next one to find ..a living history in furniture...

THE QUEENSLAND FLOODS ..The damage to history

     I'm back from my trip .. while I was away  the Queensland floods were in full flow ..I was proud of the response the Australian public made to the call for help ...It was noted overseas and often commented on.  On local TV and in newspapers ..People who knew me as Australian would come up to me and congratulate me on our comradeship, on our willingness to help others and our willingness to get in there and get dirty ..
My audience is small but I have no other. ..So I will use what I have to convey the wishes of many overseas that saw what was happening and felt for us , and send their wishes of a speedy recovery ...

While remembering the devastation of the floods and the damage it does. I was thinking of all the damage to furniture ..particularly to the older pieces that have been with families for a long time ..and treasured !..
Those of you who know me and my horror of valuable history being thrown into landfill because of fashion. This is a travesty because these pieces will be discarded because of necessity ..Their owners have little time to think about restoring ..They have more pressing needs, so if anyone has any ideas of how some of this history can be saved ..I'm listening

I'm willing to do some of the restoring ..but transport  of the goods is needed...

perhaps it could be organized for upholsters and restorers to get together to do workshops of repairs with volunteers ...

The Toilet Paper Thief

   Stealing,  Pilfering, Swiping, Scrumping, Snowdroping,....There 's a lot of words for taking what's not yours and the word used usually indicates the degree in which we see the crime.  Scrumping apples, pilfering ashtrays, (from hotel rooms),  snowdroping underwear, (from clothes lines).  No matter how quaint the word is, it's wrong, it's annoying and it's antisocial,  and my sufferance at the moment is the toilet paper  thief.  I own a shop and I hire fancy dress costumes.  I also serve coffee to my customers and I have both a private and customer toilet.  If the amount of toilet paper is any indication of the success of my business I think I'm  doing very well thank you, but the pie chart is flawed.  I'm not that good at math but x times toilet paper = customers, just does not add up.  I don't understand the toilet paper economy.
   why would you.  Anyone!! steal toilet paper!  How much is it going to to add to  the family budget if you stuff a roll of toilet paper in your hand bag or pants pocket.  How much toilet paper does a family go through anyway and how would that change the budget...With the amount of toilet paper disappearing from my humble store, and if it is assumed that every store is targeted to the same extent then only a third of the people using toilet paper actually pay for the toilet paper they're using ..talk about wiping someone else's a..!   If you do it !  Don't !..It just  contributes to embarrassing situations.  Like people peeping around the corner of the toilet door trying to catch my attention as they crouch there with their legs crossed ...
   I have often  wondered about  poo  smeared public toilet walls ..Not any more ..Some moron swiped , flinched , poached, misappropriated or snitched the bloody toilet paper ...

The Trip Home ..Fiftyfive Hours from Door to Door

 There're mixed feeling coming home from a holiday , even a short one . There is the regret  that its over, that all the fun is behind you , until next time ..and that could be a while in my case , but then your looking forward to your own bed,  your own bathroom with all the things you didn't pack..to seeing your friends and getting back to normal because being on holiday can be draining

So things weren't looking good when, on my way home I found myself stuck in Istanbul, and I'd lost my glasses to boot ..We, the passengers of of the fated Turkish airlines flight were not privy to why the plane was so late but when we did arrive  in Istanbul we were rushed off the plain to try to connect with ongoing flights ..and in the rush I lost my glasses ...I was told my connecting flight was waiting at gate 216  and to hurry.. so off I run the 3 miles to the other side of the airport to catch my flight, only to arrive clutching my chest and trying to force air into my lungs  to stop the pounding in my ears to hear that the plane had already gone ..WTF.. didn't someone call ahead to say I was on my way?..I ask what can be done and I was told I had to return to the other side of the airport to the airlines desk to sort it out .
...So back the 3 miles I go to a circus worthy of a Faulty Towers script..As I arrived at the desk ,others were coming off other, ill fated flights ...and the desk was getting very crowded and I don't  think I have ever witnessed so many angry people ..all shouting at once and  waving their arms to be noticed, all trying to get connecting flights to different parts of the world .There seemed at one point to be as many staff as customers ..
Obviously the squeaky wheels were dealt with and I was constantly pushed back in the line as they were having trouble with my connection between Singapore and Sydney ..so after a few hours I was given a ticket for the next day ..On the same flight just 24 hours later ..I was trying to see the up side of this, concerned  I would miss Australia day but maybe finally getting to see the blue mosque that I missed the first time around ..I was asked to wait a little longer as they were going to find my luggage ..Another half hour or so wait .. Instead of my luggage they now come back with still another ticket ..I'm now leaving tomorrow at noon so I can now go to the hotel ..Go go !!..I'm the last to leave, all the other customers had been given flights or hotel rooms ..and I alone was left ..The staff had also dwindled to five ..They point the direction >>> in which they want me to go ..I am no longer their concern ..I m tired and hungry by now, the only meal I have had in the past twenty hours was lunch on the flight from Barcelona .I stoop and drag myself another mile or so in the direction indicated ..through passport control and down through the barrel of the airport ..there is no one around.!! Im alone in this cavernous space and its eerie ..really there's no one!!..In the distance I see a cleaner pushing his cart so I pounce on him and ask where the hotel reservation booth is,  the only thing he understands is HOTEL and he points >>>> towards the end of the air port ..I see a double door and a desk ....On the desk is an open newspaper ..I push through the doors to the outer space of the airport ..Still no one around but now I can see a sigh with HOTEL RESERVATIONS  and I start to see that welcome bed and a shower and food...but
 I stop, I realize I had just gone through customs....CUSTOMS!! ...why all the hassle with security during the day if at night you can just walk out ...I was not at that point complaining, it would have just held me up anyway
  The man behind the counter was very kind and very friendly ..He sits me down and asks with a big cheesy smile  ( that should have given it away ..but did I say how tired I was ) What type of hotel would I like? .".four star ..five star perhaps ?." " Istanbul has many wonderful hotels "..I thought in my sleep deprived and hungry state that perhaps Turkish airlines were compensating me, for keeping me so late when every one else had gone ..So I'm kind too and say "all I want is a nice clean room to take a shower and a clean bed as I'm only going to be in it for a few hours or so ..He looks confused , I remind him that the airline will be picking me up in the morning at ten thirty ..His smile fades as the penny drops, and he asks the appropriate  questions to find I'm in the wrong booth and "come let me show you where !" Now if Turkish airlines had that I would be on my way to the hotel by now ..
  I'm introduced to the woman now that is going to find me a hotel room, so I have to sit and wait , I ask if I can have access to the internet .NO!! Maybe at Starbucks .." they will let me "..and I have time to ask as the shuttle from the hotel will take about twenty minutes ....twenty minutes!!!! ..that means it will take twenty minutes to return to the hotel ..if it were not for the shower and the possibility of food I would have thought it a better idea to stay at the airport!..
.Back to STARBUCKS..The little weed behind the counter said no!! I must  buy internet time ..I had no turkish money ,..I had given the change I had to a friends grandchildren before I left Spain ...and he wouldn't or couldn't take credit ..I had no idea what time it was in Australia anyway ..
  So Finally I'm in the hotel ..Its a travel lodge type hotel ..It was clean but no chance of a snack at this hour ! the kitchen was closed and the rooms don't have free internet, only the lobby ..I can use that in the morning I'm told ..I had the feeling they wanted to get rid of me and perhaps back to a backgammon game in the back room somewhere ...I was way too tired to argue ..I wanted a shower as much as I wanted a bed ....
  Its like minutes ...and there is this terrible noise in my head.  Its the alarm call to say I have got to get down now!!! A bus is picking me up early to take advantage of the shuttle going to the airport with other guests ..DAM!!!I dress as quickly as I can ..I have got to eat !..Im starting to feel queasy ..
I pore some coffee into a cup ..OMG!!!!! I forgot how bad the coffee was here ..I put some precooked eggs and mushrooms on a plate ..No time to wait to toast bread..I ask about the internet while I see guests being chauffeured into a minibus ..I knew it was mine as I see them fanning the room looking for me ..I make like I don't see them as I put my head down and quickly type off a general status on face book of my situation and for someone to find my ride home ... I had booked a shuttle home from the airport and he would be waiting with his little sign as I came out the customs exit ...DAM!!! they find me and give me this look .... How dare I hold things up!
  We get to the airport and the driver parks the furthest from the Singapore airlines counter ..The other "paying" guests  must be using another airline ..I'm sure there should be some restriction on the size of airports !!..I go to information ..There was no pre checkin done !!I have to wait in line to check in ..
 No worries!! I'm the first in line as I got here early!!..did I say that I only got a few hours  sleep!!...Thankfully the plane is underbooked and I can have three seats together ..woohoo!!  at least I'll be prone ..with my feet up ..soft pillows and I can close my eyes .......but then the girl at the counter asks ....Where are your bags ??????WHERE !! WHERE !! How the F... am I supposed to know ..They could be in greenland for all I knew or cared ...all I want is to go home ..Strap me to the wings with grapper tape I don't care just get me home !..A raised eyebrow from the hostess .."What is grapper tape"??.
..I thought, ..and that is dangerous when traveling ..that this was taken care of last night  AHHHH!! but no .there is a mad rushing around by a group of attendants ..Another oxymoron !.. All looking as if doing something important ..and they are ..THEY ARE HOLDING UP THE  bloody PLANE !! and passengers start asking what the problem is ..why aren't we boarding ?..Why are we leaving late ...I don't have the heart nor the energy to tell them what they're in for ...
  A young woman comes running up all sweaty and intense to let me know they have found my bags ..but I have to identify them before they can put them on the plane ..they have my name on them ?...yes, but still I have to identify them ...
  I was the very  first in line at the check in desk, now I'm the last to enter the plane ..Everyone is seated with their bags stored waiting to take off ...As I walk to the very back of the plane to take my three seats they all look at me ..Shame ..Shame!!.I'm the one that made them late !!
I find my three seats ..but as I sit alone in my three seats I'm starting to think the motives for giving me the three seats had more to do with fact that I hadn't brushed my teeth since I left Barcelona ..I was asked on the return trip to put ALL my bags through check in and I didn't mind as I was going straight home  so had no toiletries  with me ..only my handbag and I didn't think to take any out when my hand luggage was checked in ..I think my breath would have melted  glass ..Then.. this beautiful, and have you noticed they are all beautiful ..Singapore  airline hostess gave me a little zipper bag with a pair of socks and a toothbrush and a tiny tube of paste ..Thank you !!! Maybe in Turkey they were to polite to notice ..I didn't sleep until I was  upgraded  to business class  in Singapore  but the food was good and I have to thank Turkish airlines  for putting me on a Singapore airlines flight ... I'll be home soon ..but its been close to sixty hours from start to finish . I'll be in my own bed...my bed.. ...ahhhhh!!!..that was a soft  satisfied very tired..ahhhhh!!!!