New shop new shop!

On Friday we signed a lease for a shop in Mt Victoria. It is a very beautiful space, and has loads of storage space and an office out the back. I also have visions of a bit of a gallery, but baby steps Martha, baby steps.

The whole process was as crazy as these things invariably are. Turns out I don't muck around much these days, just cut to the chase. I'm being tactful, because there was some crazy shizz going down with the negotiations, but I'll tell you that in person ;-)

We take over on the 1st of September, which happens to be the week we're at the Trade Fair in Auckland. Hopefully we'll be open by the 18th. I'm in the midst of ordering shelving, trying to suss out a counter, getting a phone, power, eftpos...

I love it!

You see junk, I see an exquisite art gallery (delusion is a necessity)


It has mountains of windows, these present a slight challenge when trying to put up lots of shelving.


It has lots of hand basins, I've toyed with having a brothel component, will maybe opt for coffee instead.

I love blogs and bloggers and real friends and new friends and online friends. I am thrilled to follow so many charming and interesting people. Just like in real life, people online face some serious challenges. Earlier this year I read with great sadness as Gorillabuns lost her beautiful boy, Thalon.

One of my first blog reads and real life encounters with a blogger was the Editter, and now she is facing her own challenge with cancer. She is a brilliant writer and a terrific person, and I want to send her all the love and support I can, via wifi and the voodoo of the internet.

Glen had a car crash last night, from which he walked away unscathed. The car is written off. Of course I got right onto Twitter, and people were so kind. Honestly, I didn't feel in the slightest bit hard done by. Just very lucky that my lovely husband is fine, and nobody was in the car with him. I know I sound a bit moony and trippy, compared to my usual hardarse self, but really, we do need to be grateful for all the good shizz. Especially gin.

Pleasantville

Yesterday morning soccer was cancelled, because it started raining, and then the rain stopped. It was like a gift, a damn fine gift of not having to herd the cats that are my children to a misty field. I enjoy soccer, chatting to other parents, but the particular brand that Finn plays (Little Dribblers) goes ALL YEAR NO HOLIDAYS EVERY SINGLE WEEKEND.

In the afternoon we walked down to the shop to meet Glen, it was a spooky, still, warm day and felt like we were in the tropics. We decided to take the 3 children to the pub and have a Guinness. CLASS ACT. Not only that, I actually fed the baby, in said pub, drinking said beer (very good for our iron levels dontcha know). I'm reminded of that movie, where Reese Witherspoon acts completely unlikeable, and the gorgeous bloke still gets her, and she squawks at Melanie Lynsky "you have a baby, a baby in a bar". I sent out an urgent missive to our pals from Espresso Rescue to join us, and we all had a lovely time plotting world domination.

We mooched home for a dinner of toast and pesto and apple schnapps (not the children, silly). I have this thing, whereby of a Saturday night, at 6pm, I feel the need to watch Ready to Roll, and then at 7pm I feel the need to watch the Muppets. Talk about bloody hardwiring of my brain, how long ago did RTR finish? So I usually hit up YouTube and give the kids a show. Last night I found this piece of brilliance.



Then Top Gun, cups of tea and ginger kisses. All up, a great day, which was followed by today, an even betterer one. I nipped out this morning, sans enfants, and bought a couple of pretty frocks for wearing at Gift Fair in Auckers in a couple of weeks, tidied, and now the baby is asleep without having cried when put down and the boys are out shooting at each other at Laser Strike (giving up good parenting/no guns was remarkably easy).

7 months

The baby is 7 months. Malo was 7 months when I started this blog. This means I fully expect to have a brain freeing experience and begin writing daily this very minute.

Well, later than this very minute, because I have important chandelier cleaning (seriously!) work to do. Then I'm going to paint it. What colour chandelier do we feel like today? I imagine this is how the Queen has to go about her days.