There be treasure

If you regularly trawl through op shops and garage sales, chances are you've come across the odd find that you're genuinely chuffed about. Usually some little bit of domestic fluff you drag home smugly, and spend the rest of the day reorganising the cave so it fits in perfectly. It seems we all need to get somewhat more ambitious with our expectations though.
Ninemsn recently published a story on treasures that have been discovered in garage sales and op shops. It's an inspirational read. Have a look here.
My favourite story would have to be the stash of jewellery and silver found in a St Petersburg house by workers. It was wrapped in newspapers from 1917 and was hidden by a noble family just before the Bolshevik Revolution. The workers found over 1000 pieces of jewellery, silver and just blatant genuine treasure. The story is here. It's the stuff that dreams are made of (that, and world peace obviously).

Then there is the guy who bought a drawing at a garage sale in Las Vegas and found it was an Andy Wahol. That story is here.

So there you go people. Romance is not dead. If you're at a loose end today, get busy and go treasure hunting, apparently there is still treasure to be found.

Shop Talk

When I was on a domestic flight in the US, I found this in the pocket of my seat. Sky Mall is a catalogue of the most lame-brained, numb-skulled, idiotic consumer goods you've ever clapped your eyes on.

Example one, the camouflage snuggy. The perfect gift for the man who always intended on joining the army, but was too lazy to do so.

Perhaps you'd like to order a Winter onesie, complete with feet.......for yourself!!

At only $59, it's quite tempting.

Many Sky Mall products seem to be focussed on pets, and the doing away with their business. This 'kit' contained amongst other things an instructional dvd to teach your cat how to use the toilet.

No one would ever suspect this pot plant is anything but beautiful.

And I've got one of these on order for Ted. He'll looooove it! Apparently, 'the self-cleaning litter box features a patented sifting process that automatically activates 7 minutes after the cat leaves the box, transferring waste into a hidden drawer, leaving the globe with fresh clean litter for the next use.

Consumers are fickle. I cannot believe the things that people will buy. Who would ever have expected the world to go mad for rubber thongs again. Imagine relaunching something that's already been around forever, but now costs $30 instead of $2 from the servo?
Yet, I present to you the phenomenon that is the Havaiana thong.

In the same vein, what is it with Crocs? Who would have ever thought that would catch on, yet I have seen whole families of supposedly well educated people wearing them - whole families.....all at once!

I'll never make millions from an invention because I just don't understand what people want, although that doesn't stop me from trying.
A couple of years ago I was on the beach in Noosa chatting with a friend when I looked around me at all the bikini wearers, and came up with a new invention. It stems from the Brazilian wax craze. I called my invention the 'Camel No'.
Of course I was just kidding, but when I was googling a picture to demonstrate a classic camel toe, I came upon this.
Ladies, I present to you 
THE CUCHINI

You can actually buy one here. The website is hysterical, worth a look.

Pens down, you can now stop all that doodling, as the Cuchini marks a momentous occasion in consumer history.

It's official.....everything has now been invented.....there will be no new inventions beyond this point.

Northern Disclosures

We have just returned from a couple of days in northern New South Wales. That must be one of the most beautiful parts of the world.
We based ourselves in dinky little Brunswick Heads. It's quaintness has not gone unnoticed, the gentrification has certainly set in, although its not that obvious on the surface. We investigated the notion of a weekender there, but tiny, rundown cottages sell for 750k, and they aren't necessarily anywhere near the beach.
There are some great little shops there to have a poke around in. I found one called The Fabulous Mrs Fox, but it was closed, and then we left town too early the next day to get in there. Has anyone checked it out? It looks fabulous indeed.

I had a very thorough look through the window. It's chock full of what my friend Fi calls 'whimsical f**kery'  - just what I love. If anyone has been, let me know if it's worth the trip back. Me thinks, yes it is. I found a blog of theirs, but it had no posts on it.
We also dropped in to see our friends and neighbours from Red Hill. They have a second house at Possum Creek just near Bangalow, which gets rented out. Check out the details here, it's called Basil's Brush (guess who's just nailed links).
Kitty, with her wonderful local knowledge, gave me a list of all the antique/vintage/retro/second hand shops in Northern New South Wales from Alstonville to Yamba, from Ballina to Woodburn. Apparently Lismore is where it's at. I visited Carrington Street Bazaar, which was particularly good.
Back to pretty old Brunswick Heads.The beach is so beautiful, I could almost turn. As they say in that hideously corny Byron Bay ad, 'her beauty changed me' (temporarily at least). I nearly wanted to go for a swim. We went for a walk along the river and down to the beach yesterday at twilight.

If you haven't been to northern New South Wales for a while, get yourself down there pronto. It'll do you good.
Before I go, here's the list. It would be inhumane not to pass it on.
Alstonville
Gingerlily Vintage Wares, 76 Main Street
Ballina
Summerland Antiques & Collectables, Cnr Smith Dr & Pacific Highway
Leah's Secondhand Furniture, 19 Moon Street
Bangalow
Heaths Old Wares & Collectables, Station Street
Little Peach Japanese Collectables, 17 Byron Street
Lazy Bones Emporium, 16 Station Street
The Little Antique Shop Jewellery, 30 Byron Street
The New Collector, 64a Byron Street
The Retro Shop Bangalow, Shop 5, 1 Lismore Road
Vintage Eastern, 87 Byron Street
Vintage Retro & Collectables, 14 Station Street
Brunswick Heads
Clem's Cargo & Collectables, Shop 1, 38 Tweed Street
Resould, 48 Tweed Street
Secondhand Rose Emporium, 8 Park street
Sentimental Treasures, Shop 2, 38 Tweed Street
The Fabulous Mrs Fox, Park Street
Byron Bay
Byron Bay Furniture, 8 Grevillea Street
NV New Vintage, Byron Arcade, Shop 3B, 13 Lawson Street
Polish Antiques, Centennial Cct
Casino
McKee's Old Bakery Antiques, 99 Centre Street
Olley's, 153 Canterbury Street
Ian Norris Antique Brass Beds, By Appointment Only Tel 02 6662 4532
Chinderah
Ray Evans Chinderah Bay Antiques, Cnr Waugh St & Chindera Bay Drive
Clunes
The Old Romantic Shack, Main Street
Coraki
Secondhand & Old Wares, 93 Richmond Terrace
Federal
Jatana Interiors Antique Tiles, By Appointment Only, Tel 02 6688 4048
Kyogle
Lewie's Portal, 7 Stratheden Street
Plum Vintage, 143 Summerland Way
Lismore
Alba Vintage, 40 Carrington Street
Books  & Stuff Cnr Magellan & Keen St
Carrington Street Bazaar, 40 Carrington Street
Lizzy's Furniture, 59 Wyrallah Road
Rosemont Collectables, 91a Molesworth Street
Vintage & Antique Boutique Stores, Star Court Arcade, Molesworth Street
Maclean
Penny Farthing Antiques, 151 River Street
Mullumbimby
Cedar House Antiques, 140 Dalley Street
Country Spirit, 3/104 Dalley Street
Open House Mullumbimby New & Used, 22 Tincogan Street
Down the Alley, 59a Burringbar Street
Murwillumbah
Gabriel's Closet Antiques & Collectables, 130 Main Street
Newrybar
Country House Antiques, 19 Old Pacific Highway
Old Grevillia
Calamia Cottage Collectables, 8 Calamia Road (off the Summerland Way)
Tyalgum
Tiny Shoppe of Memories, Coolman Street (next to the Flutterbies Cafe)
Tumbulgum
Junction, 26 Riverside Drive
Ulmarra
Contrary's on Clarence, Pacific Highway
Old Codgers Antiques & Collectables, Old Norco Building, Pacific Highway
Uki
Re's Intrigues Old Wares & Bric-a-brac, The Old Butter Factory, 1454 Kyogle Road
Woodburn
Vintage Clothing & Collectables, 81 River Street
Yamba
Angourie Road Secondhand & Antiques, 8 Angourie Road

Save yourself from heartache and take a ute so you don't have to leave anything behind.
If anyone's got any to add, leave a comment and I'll amend the list.

There's plenty of other stores

It seems David Jones is in a bit of a bother, and their sales are down - dramatically. The finger is pointed squarely at the Carbon Tax, but could we just be moving away from large department stores?
I just love workshopping a subject like this. It's so interesting.
I don't really frequent department stores myself. I find them overwhelming, and just too 'overstuffed'. My eye doesn't settle on anything long enough to want it that much.

I also think they've propped themselves up with 'sales' and discounts so much that customers now expect to pay less than the rrp for their purchase. If the item isn't on sale now, it probably will be next week.
Maybe it's just me, but when I look at the lack lustre, mass produced merchandise on sale, with all the quality of a movie prop, it seems like it's just something to sell, rather than a great product that people will want to buy. Here's a shelf, quick, put something on it to sell!
I think the service has improved in department stores, but only once it hit a crazy low, when it was near impossible to find someone to take your money. One day when I was buying a toy in the other big department store, the woman who worked there actually, literally, tried to talk me into going to another counter so she didn't have to serve me. She said the toy I was buying should be 30% off, but she didn't think the discount would work on her cash register. I said I didn't care, and I didn't, I just wanted to pay for it and get out of there. Hey presto! Her register worked perfectly, I got the right price and she skulked off, I'm assuming to hide from any more customers.
When I was a teenager I worked at Sportsgirl and we did training in customer service. We were encouraged to suggest clothes to customers if they were having trouble finding something. We swapped sizes for people, said hello to them and made eye contact.
Maybe DJs customers are all off shopping in their neighbourhood boutiques, where they get attention and an already edited stock which they know will suit their taste.
We must also be approaching a point where we do not need any more retailers. There must be a stage at which there is the perfect number of shops for a population, when they can make a decent living. Past this point, business is thinned out and making a buck becomes more difficult. What is the economic term for this?
Could it be that retail therapy is not filling the void it once did? Are we evolving? 
I may be a mad consumer, but I would estimate four out of five things I buy are second hand. It's more of a sport, I get something that's more unique and interesting, it's recycling, and quite often, better quality than something that's new. It's win, win, win.
Now, The Red Hill Fair is on Saturday, July 30th at Woolcock Park. You must all come and buy a cake. I am the Cake Stall Convenor, and we take our cakes very seriously. I've even set up a blog, which you can see here.

The Red Hill Fair is our kindy's major fundraiser, and every family has to make eight cakes for the cake stall. I set up the blog to distribute the recipes. Maybe it will be of help to you too as cakes are often used to financially prop up educational facilities.
The Fair is a great day, it starts at 10 and finishes around 3pm. Don't worry, I intend to remind you again before the BIG DAY.