Having my scholarship extension approved has resulted in an immediate downing of tools. Don’t tell the Supes. No, I’m not telling off chauvinists in the shopping centre, though I did almost get into a fight with a guy in a big red car who nearly killed the cyclist in front on me on Sydney Rd last weekend.
Though I’ve exchanged keyboard for sewing machine.
I scampered out to Brotherhood* earlier this week to find a new couch to replace horrible old Brownie. Last time I was at Brotherhood I picked up Reddy (formerly a Brownie, as all good rental/sharehouse couches are) for about $20. Prior to that I picked up a nice three piece (also a Brownie), covered the cushions and all for $90 including nice fabric. This week they had nothing under $100 and I was a bit shocked. Goddamn teenage hipsters moving in the ‘Wick and pushing up prices. Go back to Brunswick Street.
Yesterday, prompted by a late night drive-by on Sydney Rd near Bismi, I drop in to the Salvos and find us a new couch. $65 seems a bit much, but heck. It’s a score. Only parts of it are brown. It is (was), for the most part, mushroom pink and a lovely velour (and a 3 seater). I then scooted down to Fabric Central further south on Sydney Rd and bought 8m of nice fabric which looked burgendy with goldy stripes. Got it home and The Squeeze decided it was a ghastly shade of brown. He is colour blind, so I ignored him. This morning, checking out the three cushions I covered last night (I am a couch cushion covering DEMON), I decided he might be right. Oh well. I’m hoping a couple of red and gold cushions (made from fabric from the sari fabric shop) will make it look like a hippy couch rather than a brown sharehouse couch. There are some bits upholstered in pink, but I’m considering covering them (either with a cover or getting jiggy with a staple gun). Either way, the pink matches the fabric so it’s ok.
But the new couch is very nice. It’s actually quite well made, and is comfortable. It feels soft, but has structure. The Squeeze declared that he liked the way his feet didn’t touch the ground when he sat in it. A definite improvement on Brownie, where your knees were at chin height owing to the fucked up base.** I’m fairly sure he also liked the feel of the pink velour against his bare skin, but didn’t mention it, seeing as how I’d probably be a bit short, considering the whole covering-cushions project.
I go back to the fabric shop to get the rest of the fabric today (which, by the way, was a great upholstery fabric for only $10 a metre – 140cm wide).
Right now the potato lady is driving past in her truck. She calls out “Potatoes, potatoes. Fresh and new”. They come in from the farm and drive around Brunswick selling potatoes, tomatoes, strawberries, grapes, melon, etc. All of the locals who’d troop out to haggle (this is the ‘Wick – this is what we do. There’s not much else for us stay-home-types*** to do otherwise) thought it was a bit pricey.
It was only a month or so ago I discovered they sold organic stuff. And today was the first time I’d heard them advertise that fact. Their sales have improved, but people still try to haggle.
*the charity shop on Brunswick Rd – Brotherhood of St Laurence
**Brownie now lives in the shed. Soon I will have to buy a couple of Bob Marley ‘fabric posters’, a couple of bottles of Orchy juice and take a bucket out there. Then, when I’ve lured in a few of those goddamn teenagers, I can start culling.
***mostly Greek widows, Italian poppas and phd students who’re kind of cabin feverish and delight in long, complicated discussions with strangers. And haggling.
fyi: there is a Brunswick Street (in Fitzroy/Nth Fitzroy), a Brunswick Road (running perpendicular to Sydney Road, and pretty much the point at which Carlton Nth turns into Brunswick) and the suburb Brunswick (and Brunswick East, Brunswick North, Brunswick East). They’re all in the same general part of Melbourne, just not in the same suburb. Think that’s tricky? I catch a bus on Victoria St that runs east til it hits Victoria St which runs Nth/Sth. That’s where I get off. It then crosses another Victoria St further Nth. None of these are the Victoria Pde or Victoria St which runs East/West across the top of the CBD from Nth Melbourne to Collingwood.
