Tuesday, November 26, 2013

... on eggs. Real ones!

I've got a few eggs to show you. A while back there were some mickies nesting in the wattle tree out the front, and one day, soon after tiny whistlings started coming from the nest, I found an egg on the ground. It was almost-intact, save for a small hole in one side, and it must have been shoved out of the nest as a dud. 

Then, another bunch of mickies nesting at my Ma's place. They'd built in a hanging branch of a paperbark tree, quite low to the ground, and it contained three of their lovely brown-speckled eggs. A few days later though, my Ma reported that the nest must have been raided by a bigger bird, for the eggs were gone (as were the mickies) and the nest was hanging crookedly from the branch. Did I want the nest? Oh yes please!
Can you see the wonderful stuff they've used to pad the nest? I'd seen a few nests where the birds have sourced fluffy building insulation to use, which is generally white or grey, but these mickies have found some two-toned synthetic green material, and used that. 

There has been some interesting chicken egg action around here lately. Normally my Pekin bantam girls lay white-to-pale-brown solid-coloured eggs, but have at look at this delight that awaited me in the nestbox recently. 
A speckled egg! There has been only one, and I have my suspicions that it's the result of some antibiotics that I have been giving Ginger, trying to combat an ongoing case of bumblefoot. Isn't it special? (Ginger is much better, too!)

Lastly, a couple of oddities.
That big egg at the back is a regular Pekin bantam egg. The little white one in front is an end-of-the-season egg from my Ma's English Game hen, Major Hoolihan. The tiny brown one to the right there is a bit special because it's come all the way from Stanthorpe, through the mail, from fellow BrisStyle member, Sarah. I believe the egg came from friends of hers, and it's extra-special because it's the very first egg one of their bantams has laid. Shortly I'll make moulds of those two wee eggs, and see what happens next!

Tuesday, November 19, 2013

... on Finders Keepers... far out!

Oh my goodness. It feels like about three weeks since Friday afternoon, and yet the weekend flew by, too. I'm not sure that's possible, but it feels true to me right now! The studio is a shambles, the car is as-yet not unpacked, my feet are sore but I'm smiling, still!

In case anyone missed it, Kuberstore was a debutante at this past weekend's Brisbane Finders Keepers market. To me, Finders Keepers is a big deal. It's only on twice a year, and it's been something I've aspired to ever since I first visited one. The stalls are always so beautiful, and there's a cornucopia of desirable things on offer. If you have the stamina you can do just about all your christmas shopping in one hit, as you hone your ducking-and-weaving skills amongst the mad crowd.

What a fabulous weekend! I had a wonderful spot beside some beautiful red brick arched doors on the veranda of the Old Museum, and the only problem was my stock of paper bags running dangerously low on Saturday afternoon. If you had told me beforehand that the number of paper bags I had taken wasn't going to be enough then I would have laughed, because that would have meant that they were going off out into the world in the hands of buyers, filled with Kuberstore things. Well, they did! At 3 on Sunday morning I awoke, worrying about this no-more-bags issue, and got up to fashion some up out of brown paper on the sewing machine!

So. Two days of a pace so frenetic that it verged on nuts. At times I simply couldn't get around the side of my stall to tidy or restock the other end, so it got a little unruly down there. (Note to self for future stall design... ability to access it all from behind!) Lots of chats, and some degree of tablecloth wrangling as they did Monroe skirt impressions in the strengthening breeze! I saw a number of dear friends, (some of whom I hadn't seen for too long) and it was so lovely to spy their familiar faces coming towards me along the crowded veranda. The weather held. It was a long weekend. It was over in a flash. I'd do it again!

Many, many thanks to those who visited, your support and words of encouragement are absolutely cherished. Extra thanks to my Ma for minding the stall while I had a quick break, and to C for that fabulous breakfast you made us on Saturday morning, and everything else, you splendid man!

Three cheers for Finders Keepers! HURRAH!

Thursday, November 14, 2013

... on countdowns and crossings off.

Well, the countdown is almost over - it's Finders Keepers this weekend. I haven't done it before, so it's  a shot in the dark, and I'm apprehensive because I have no idea what it'll be like or how it will go and whether the wind will blow my veranda stall away and will the folding table bear the weight of my display and what are 'fire resistant timbers' (I'm just ignoring that little piece of info in the stallholders manual!) and what will I do if I run out of change and... and... can you tell I'm anxious!?

But, I'm almost there. I've got lists, MULTIPLE lists, with lots of things crossed off them, and only a few more major (but achieveable) things to do before bump-in tomorrow evening. I've got stock levels that I'm comfortable with in two ways - if I sell out of a particular thing that'll be surprising and delightful, and if I sell none of a particular thing then it's not too much to have on hand. I've got a new cast plaster letter display that fits in much better with the look of my stall.
The map of stallholders has now been released, which I have popped up on my Facebook page. I'll be at stall D10 which is on the veranda near the stairs going down into the garden. Visitors who stop by can have a first look at my newest wee linen nest, containing an extra-special speckled egg.
In the spirit of getting things done, recently I crossed a big thing off my list of things to do. You know you're a bit slack in the 'do website' department when you get an annual hosting renewal notice before you've managed to get around to designing your site. Hello something-more-than-a-holding-page-at-kuberstore.com!

I've done this using Squarespace, as their level of customisation potential was able to balance my 'desire to make it look a certain way' with 'I am a web design gumby' and 'I'd like to be able to change this whenever I want'. Doing Finders Keepers was the kick I needed to get my website sorted out, and I'm glad, as quite a lot of traffic is coming from the FK stallholder profiles right now!

So. Fingers crossed for mild weather and smiling faces and non-collapsing tables! See you there if you're going, or stay tuned for a Finders Keepers wrap-up next week. Cheerio!