The Cat Lady
Dear Ann,
When Charley & I went to Burbank in December 2015 we were doing quite a bit of window shopping the day after we arrived, so that she could get a feel for the place. We wandered into a delightful, but small boutique.
It had a definite ‘Charley’ dress in the window, which she just had to try on, It looked beautiful on her so I made a quick purchase to go under the Christmas tree. Also on a model just inside the door to the boutique was a little black top sporting a life sized cat on the front & the back. We both thought it rather cute, particularly Charley with her love for cats, so I encouraged her to try it on which became a second gift to go under the Christmas tree!
She has had a lot of wear from both items ever since. I am explaining this for a reason which I will come to shortly.
In February we went along to one of our minor markets at Fennels Bay, which isn’t a very good market. We have found that when there is a large volume of bric-a-brac & used clothing stalls it is not so viable or profitable for those with a better class of produce.
We consider our products are among the better class with more appeal to those who are not so much looking for bargains but good home made products. Charley & I have decided we will still patronise this venue, as it costs little to be there, & we are content in the lower sales. Our attitude being that we would do better than sitting at home doing nothing.
So until we can find our way into more profitable & active markets we are happy to attend as, in recent months, we have booked a permanent space. Anyway on a lovely day it’s not hard to take just sitting in the sun chatting to those who come & try our products. Although Charley, being a redhead, has to be extremely careful not to get sunburnt!
Actually in February our sales there were the best we had had for some months, which was encouraging. Maybe it was because Charley wore her ‘cat top’! She looked great & was admired by many.
I was finding it rather quiet & left Charley to hold the fort while I sussed out the ingredients we needed for the production. We had to do as there are a couple of really good greengrocers who attend this market. Having completed this chore I wandered around a bit which I don’t normally do & I had a great time.
Charley with her cat top and cat cup.
I came across a chap who makes animals & things out of concrete. He had an attractive bird bath made that was lovely & deep, with a kookaburra sitting on the end of the bath. On the pedestal he had a possum at the foot of it peeping out from a tree trunk that even had initials carved into it.
I fell in love with it. As my friend Sandra had given me $50 as a Christmas gift, I decided that this would be what I would spend it on & have something to show.
I am still waiting for my gardener to put it into place in my garden. When it’s in place I will take a photo of it to show you. I am really pleased with it & know that Sandra will be delighted with my choice of the gift that will remind me always of my friend every time I look at it.
As I was wandering around I came across another stall which had mostly bric-a-brac but I did notice a coffee mug with a cat on it which, of course, caught my eye. The lady said it was $2.50 so I decided to snap it up as a gift for Charley.
However, I was even more delighted when there was a set of four cat mugs all different, brand new & in a gift box. It was $2.50 for the lot ! Charley, of course, was delighted when I took them back to our stall & gave them to her.
One of the things I have ascertained in being at markets with Charley is her love of crystal, which really surprised me. The young people today do not favour it greatly, most are very disinterested . Where I bought the coffee mugs the lady had a crystal dressing table set, which brought back memories as I still have mine & can remember when Mum gave it to me for my fifteenth birthday.
As the sweet lady only wanted $10 for it I also snapped that up, but it is a secret as I have wrapped it up to give to her on her next birthday. I think she will be stoked. I am now spending a little bit of time perusing all the markets as what do people say, “One man’s trash is another man’s treasure!”
We had quite a good day in sales, much improved, so we are taking this as a good omen. In any case we also enjoyed the warmth from the sun & the lovely breeze blowing in from the lake. Lake Macquarie is our beautiful lake in Newcastle & very large reputing to be three hundred & sixty five kilometres around it, one for each day of the year.
It certainly is a draw card to our city as it is well known so as we sit at our markets in this area the water has a nice calming & relaxing effect,
Love to you always dear friend. God Bless, Dawn. X O X O