Market day
I awoke on Saturday when Kakali got up, 6:30, because her and Johan's cab was coming at 7:30. The Richardses, we knew, were catching a taxi right then to head for the airport themselves. I was exhausted, so lay in bed and tried to doze more while Kakali showered and got ready to go. I got up fully at 7:30, and tried to tidy everything in our bedroom and bathroom as well as Johan's, and then the main house. It was quiet with no one around, and I saw Decker running around outside so I figured Jarrah was out there with him. I had breakfast (cold pizza, and then toast when I found the bread), loaded the dishwasher, and started it, per arrangement from the night before. Right as I was looking around the house for the final time, Jarrah came slowly down the stairs, front feet, and then hopping her back feet along. She was having a lot of problems with her arthritis. I was quite surprised to see her still inside, but even more surprised that when I bent down to talk to her (yes, yes, I know she's deaf), she came over and wagged a bit. She is not a waggy dog, and usually prefers to ignore you altogether. I patted her, and then she saw Decker outside, so I opened the door and out she went. I was glad of that because I was not looking forward to having to coerce her outside (and she needed to be outside when I left). Immediately, she wanted to come in, but I didn't let her. I put my bags outside, locked up, and waited for Peter to arrive. He pulled up around 9:10, and we loaded the bags.
It turned out that Barb was home preparing for "the market". It took about half an hour to get from Eltham to Basin. When I arrived, Barb and Peter's dog Bernie was barking and growling ferociously, and they both yelled at him to be quiet, and he slunk further into the house, growling loudly. "What you have to do," said Barb, "is sit right there and call him over to you." "Yeah right," I thought to myself, "Because what I want to do right now is stick my hand out to a dog who is looking to detach me limb from limb." But I sat down and called him and talked to him, and he came over, still growling, and sat down next to me so I could pet him. Barb explained that Bernie is a half Bermese Mountain dog, and half collie. They rescued him ten years ago from some lab where he was being used as a test dog, and he's never gotten over his stranger anxiety. However, once he does you know, he won't leave you alone because he wants to be petted constantly. He'll come up next to you and bump your elbow, put his head in your lap, or, if he can reach your hand, nibble at your fingers. He keeps interrupting me as I try to type this, actually!
"This is a real animal house," said Barb. They also have four cats (luckily for me, all the animals roam outdoors, so my allergies are only moderately annoying), one of which seems to like me. And they feed cockatoos, rosellas, and magpies from the deck, as well as possums (which don't look like the possums I know, but whatever...)
I was introduced to my room, and there was a huge bouquet of roses in a vase. "Open the card," said Barb. I did, and found something very strange - the message was something that I knew was from Glen, yet the writing was Barb's, and yet the nicknames were Glen and mine, ones that Glen had chosen... Glen had arranged with Barb to get me three dozen two-tone roses (when Glen gets me flowers, it's always two-tone roses - sort of his signature!), Barb had thrown in peonies too, and he had told her what he wanted on the card. It was very sweet of him. I sat in my room for a bit by myself and tried to collect myself. I always get thrown by place change, and I was suddenly feeling very alone. I read Chris' paper to prepare for the panel discussion, and then started sorting my dirty laundry. I found my Bill Bryson book and read a few chapters. We had a bit of lunch (fish, yummy salad, beets, and bread), and had an hour or so before the market, so I went outside to read some more.
The market. Barb used to own a bakery. Since her multiple joint replacements (both knees and a shoulder), she can't work anymore, but doesn't want to just sit around, so since August she has been on the market circuit. She bakes a ton of cakes and sweets during the week, and then sets up a stall at various markets to sell her goods. Yesterday was a "substitute market" to make up for one that had been cancelled due to storms a few weeks ago. There were "only" 300 stalls; Barb says usually there are 700. So we went at 2 PM to set up her stall. Mostly I was in the way and felt useless. Barb and Peter and their daughter Sonje knew exactly how to set up the canopy and tables and I couldn't do anything. So I stood around and tried to not get hit with the poles. It was sunny, but cold and windy. Sonje's 10 month old, Jake, was there, and I became international babysitter extraordinaire. I took him on a walk, and a few shopkeepers commented on how cute he was, how well he was walking, etc., and when I responded, they sort of did double-takes and said, "Now where's your accent from?" The booths had everything from baked goods to jams, jellies, sauces, and mustards, to paintings, woodworking, clothes, plants... And there were booths selling take-away foods, too. Corn on the cob, sausages, falafel, pizza, coffee, fresh lemonade. The longest line was the line for mini-pancakes, which was the closest I saw to fried dough! You'd get a whole plate of one inch pancakes with powdered sugar and you could add lemon, maple, or honey on top. There was always at least ten people waiting for that. In one of my walks through (there were TONS of people and it was hard to fight crowds for more than half an hour before I just wanted to retreat to the car), I got a lemonade and a beef sausage with BBQ sauce. Yum. Not to mention that many of the booths selling not take-away stuff had samples. Eric cruising Costco for samples crossed my mind a few times!
It was freezing though, and the wind was blowing right through me. Barb was already ill with a cold and spent six hours outdoors in it before they packed up at 8 when the market closed. Again, I was in the way, so sat in the car, shivering. They did very well, sold all their fresh stuff, and just had a few gingerbread houses and stuff left. I got to sample a gluten-free gingerbread cookie (it broke), and shared the last piece of carrot cake with Pete.
We stopped at KFC to get quick dinner stuff on the way home, but seemed we were too tired to eat much of it when we got here. It was enough that the potatos and gravy were hot. Pete offered me a beer (Victoria Bitter) and I accepted. It was very good, but I kept to one. We chatted for a bit as I patted Bernie for half an hour straight, and listened to the possums run on the roof (they sounded like elephants). I passed out in bed at 10:30, waking up close to 11 AM this morning.
Today, we're going to go do something - a wildlife reserve maybe? And then are meeting up with Sonje and family for dinner.
Pics coming when I get online again with my computer. Right now, I'm on Barb and Peter's.
It turned out that Barb was home preparing for "the market". It took about half an hour to get from Eltham to Basin. When I arrived, Barb and Peter's dog Bernie was barking and growling ferociously, and they both yelled at him to be quiet, and he slunk further into the house, growling loudly. "What you have to do," said Barb, "is sit right there and call him over to you." "Yeah right," I thought to myself, "Because what I want to do right now is stick my hand out to a dog who is looking to detach me limb from limb." But I sat down and called him and talked to him, and he came over, still growling, and sat down next to me so I could pet him. Barb explained that Bernie is a half Bermese Mountain dog, and half collie. They rescued him ten years ago from some lab where he was being used as a test dog, and he's never gotten over his stranger anxiety. However, once he does you know, he won't leave you alone because he wants to be petted constantly. He'll come up next to you and bump your elbow, put his head in your lap, or, if he can reach your hand, nibble at your fingers. He keeps interrupting me as I try to type this, actually!
"This is a real animal house," said Barb. They also have four cats (luckily for me, all the animals roam outdoors, so my allergies are only moderately annoying), one of which seems to like me. And they feed cockatoos, rosellas, and magpies from the deck, as well as possums (which don't look like the possums I know, but whatever...)
I was introduced to my room, and there was a huge bouquet of roses in a vase. "Open the card," said Barb. I did, and found something very strange - the message was something that I knew was from Glen, yet the writing was Barb's, and yet the nicknames were Glen and mine, ones that Glen had chosen... Glen had arranged with Barb to get me three dozen two-tone roses (when Glen gets me flowers, it's always two-tone roses - sort of his signature!), Barb had thrown in peonies too, and he had told her what he wanted on the card. It was very sweet of him. I sat in my room for a bit by myself and tried to collect myself. I always get thrown by place change, and I was suddenly feeling very alone. I read Chris' paper to prepare for the panel discussion, and then started sorting my dirty laundry. I found my Bill Bryson book and read a few chapters. We had a bit of lunch (fish, yummy salad, beets, and bread), and had an hour or so before the market, so I went outside to read some more.
The market. Barb used to own a bakery. Since her multiple joint replacements (both knees and a shoulder), she can't work anymore, but doesn't want to just sit around, so since August she has been on the market circuit. She bakes a ton of cakes and sweets during the week, and then sets up a stall at various markets to sell her goods. Yesterday was a "substitute market" to make up for one that had been cancelled due to storms a few weeks ago. There were "only" 300 stalls; Barb says usually there are 700. So we went at 2 PM to set up her stall. Mostly I was in the way and felt useless. Barb and Peter and their daughter Sonje knew exactly how to set up the canopy and tables and I couldn't do anything. So I stood around and tried to not get hit with the poles. It was sunny, but cold and windy. Sonje's 10 month old, Jake, was there, and I became international babysitter extraordinaire. I took him on a walk, and a few shopkeepers commented on how cute he was, how well he was walking, etc., and when I responded, they sort of did double-takes and said, "Now where's your accent from?" The booths had everything from baked goods to jams, jellies, sauces, and mustards, to paintings, woodworking, clothes, plants... And there were booths selling take-away foods, too. Corn on the cob, sausages, falafel, pizza, coffee, fresh lemonade. The longest line was the line for mini-pancakes, which was the closest I saw to fried dough! You'd get a whole plate of one inch pancakes with powdered sugar and you could add lemon, maple, or honey on top. There was always at least ten people waiting for that. In one of my walks through (there were TONS of people and it was hard to fight crowds for more than half an hour before I just wanted to retreat to the car), I got a lemonade and a beef sausage with BBQ sauce. Yum. Not to mention that many of the booths selling not take-away stuff had samples. Eric cruising Costco for samples crossed my mind a few times!
It was freezing though, and the wind was blowing right through me. Barb was already ill with a cold and spent six hours outdoors in it before they packed up at 8 when the market closed. Again, I was in the way, so sat in the car, shivering. They did very well, sold all their fresh stuff, and just had a few gingerbread houses and stuff left. I got to sample a gluten-free gingerbread cookie (it broke), and shared the last piece of carrot cake with Pete.
We stopped at KFC to get quick dinner stuff on the way home, but seemed we were too tired to eat much of it when we got here. It was enough that the potatos and gravy were hot. Pete offered me a beer (Victoria Bitter) and I accepted. It was very good, but I kept to one. We chatted for a bit as I patted Bernie for half an hour straight, and listened to the possums run on the roof (they sounded like elephants). I passed out in bed at 10:30, waking up close to 11 AM this morning.
Today, we're going to go do something - a wildlife reserve maybe? And then are meeting up with Sonje and family for dinner.
Pics coming when I get online again with my computer. Right now, I'm on Barb and Peter's.
posted by Jen at 11:59 AM
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