It’s finally that time of the year again! The Virginia Creeper is turning and it’s time for an early morning, hot coffee in hand, jaunt amongst The Society inc. fleamarket. Before Winter sets in for good, come and discover oddities & curiosities, fresh herbs & seeds, handmade treasures, knitted textiles for rugging up, shibori dyed cushions, ceramics & lots more.

As usual, our stallholders will be selling their wares from 8AM – MIDDAY. I’m all about treasure hunting, upcycling, passing on, lo-fi and of course, collecting, styling, new mementos & memories once home. See you there!

Saturday, June 1st

The Society inc.

18 Stewart Street, Paddington

NSW Australia 2021

I had such a great time this morning at the On Collecting panel for the Sydney Writer’s Festival! I’m so looking forward to my in-conversation with the amazing Karen McCartney tomorrow at The Mint. We’re talking all things collecting, styling, and Bowerbird.

Come – it’s free! I’m signing books afterwards and would love to have a chat.

It is easy to spend days walking the streets of old town, Hanoi. Cruise Noodle & Potato Streets amongst all the other specialty streets. I was looking for handcrafted bits’n’bobs to put in my October container sale for One Kings Lane. I found giant hanging incense, handforged scissors, bamboo birdcages, feather shuttlecocks, handcarved stamps, and even bamboo bicycles!

A pitstop whilst shopping in Hanoi took us to uber cool cafe, Cong Caphe. You enter through a green door into a simple, yet perfect interior. Wooden floors & tables of soft mid tone browns, surrounded by antique wooden & found chairs, padded with chinese cotton print cushions. Lounge chairs are also in the mix, both upstairs & downstairs, & the light throughout is gorgeous.

The kitchen is teeny tiny with no cooked food on the menu, but plenty of yoghurt drinks, crossiants & other delicious things.

Check out the menu, beautifully handwritten in hardcovered old books. The tables are adorned with stenciled enamelware, fully blown roses against a backdrop of army green walls & exposed brick.

There are 2 locations in Hanoi (&rumour of opening in London)

152Đ-Triệu Việt Vương, Hai Bà Trưng

32-Điện Biên Phủ, Ba Đình

And on my early beach walk this morning, they were revealed in all their fascinating sculptural beauty. The beach up from super fancy hotel , The Nam Hai was scattered with them. Looking like beached whales, they are woven, then tarred for water resistance with a single loop rope on their perimeter to hold a carved wooden paddle. I watched as a fisherman rode a wave into shore maneuvering with circular motions of the paddle. He was as wirey & thin as a whippet!

They will definitely be appearing in the sale, I just have to convince a couple of fisherman to part with their baskets!