Now I’m permanently settled, it’s time to get more involved locally – to keep myself busy with activities, as well as meet more people and contribute to the local community. I’m very fortunate that a good friend has also taken the bold step of moving from city life to Kandos so I have a partner in crime, although everyone here is very welcoming.
After the Bread and Pizza making classes in Mudgee, I’ve joined Mudgee Fine Foods, which host the monthly Farmers Market and organises Farm Walks. The last visit to the Farmers Market yielded a bounty of local produce, including amazing paddock to plate cured meats from Pipeclay Pumphouse. I came away with truffle salami, coppa and pork terrine. You need to get in early for the proscuitto.
My friend and I also popped in for a warm welcome at Mudgee Knitters’ Guild which I think will become a regular outing and we’ve also joined the local CWA. All of which are noble country pursuits. Combined with Museum duties and potentially gardening activities, not to mention my Rylstone Artisan Markets monthly stall, should see me well occupied for some time.
Beanies galore! The top ones are new. Hoping the spiral Noro beanies are a hit.
After my recent successes at the Rylstone Artisan Markets, I have stocked up heavily (which has also meant lots of knitting). My big sellers to date have been the lacy mohair and silk scarves as well as the fingerless mitts, with beanie sales increasing now the weather is chilly.
And of course lots of mitts for frozen hands. Good for a cold Winter Market day.
This is the first “Winter” market and I’m hoping to continue my fortunate streak. This time I’ve added a stack of Noro beanies – spiral and plain, as well as a bumper load of mitts in gorgeous yarns. The markets let me indulge, with my main yarns so far being Rowan Silk Haze, Noro – Kureyon and Silk Garden, and for the linen stitch scarves a bit of a mix with alpaca, merino and mohair blends. Peartree is wonderful to work with and provides a great finished item. This month I’ve experimented with Madelinetosh Sock yarn and I’m also using some of the wonderful vintage Lush hand dyed yarns I bought a few years ago. It’s rewarding to be playing with a stash that I’ve been building up.
Linen stitch scarves – such a different woven texture to normal knitting. These let me play with wonderful colour and texture combinations.
Nippy weather usually means cold fingers and ears – making the mitts in particular popular items, with mitts and beanies usually donned on the spot.
I now have a much better sense of how to set up for the markets and what people like and I’m also very pleased with how my stall looks. I’ll let you know how I go this round.
Fishnet lace scarves in a silk/kid mohair blend that could float away in a breeze. These have been popular as gifts, particularly to post or take overseas.
A friendly local (not that all local’s aren’t friendly here) directed me to Mudgee Fine Foods who co-ordinate lots of foodie activities and promote local producers. Last weekend friends and I attended Bread, Sourdough and Pizza-making class in Mudgee.
My team’s dough posing for a photo
For a ridiculously small price, an intimate class had two artisan bakers teach us the finer points of bread-making, culminating in us gobbling down delicious pizzas we had contributed to in the class.
It was all highly practical, hands on and we also were given techniques on preparing the starter for our own sourdough. We left the class with pizza dough to use at home (which I didn’t do justice to) and starter for our sourdough. Whilst I have a bread maker, I can see lots of bread kneading in my future.
Mudgee Fine Foods have great events, including Farm Walks where you get to see local producers close up. I’ll be keeping an eye on their website in future.
I was too busy eating the cooked pizzas to take photos!
100 years ago, Kandos was born. Kandos has a different history to most Australian towns as it was basically founded as a “private” town. A number of entrepreneurs decided it was the ideal location for a cement works and bought parcels of land which they used for their cement works, as well as subdividing blocks to sell off to workers. Before then Kandos did not exist – basically, they named and built their own town centred around what is known locally as “The Works”.
This makes Kandos unique as both a twentieth century town and having a basis more as an industrial and private town, unlike so many towns that were based on pastoral activities. Anyway, this year marks Kandos’ centenary – somewhat ironic as the cement works that so defined the town have now closed down and the main buildings for the works will also be demolished this year.
It is an exciting but also somewhat daunting time for the town as it now finds its feet independently – somewhat like an adolescent leaving parents. The town has so much going for it in terms of natural beauty, closeness to Sydney (3 hours), a wonderful welcoming community with so may activities to be involved in and very reasonable real estate prices that are yet to catch up with some of the other more trendy regions.
Over the long weekend in October, many activities have been planned to help celebrate 100 years of Kandos and many Kandos expats are expected to return for the celebrations. The Convent is also participating by opening the garden and doors for Sunday and Monday, which means no slacking off with the gardening! I’m hoping locals and ex’s will bring along copies of photos of their family at the Convent – weddings, Christenings, school photos … to help build a social history of the Convent.
The Convent has now had a few “opens” to the community and it is always so rewarding to have people come along and tell their stories. For now, it’s making sure I have the garden at its best for October.
An unexpected bargain – an old iron kerosine lamp stand makes a wonderful stand for a candle in the Cloisters.
Over the weekend, one of the major quality auction houses, Vickers and Hoad, held a massive auction of the contents from an historic old homestead in Maitland in the Hunter Valley.
It was obviously sad for the family to see their old home go as well as all the contents and I believe the family had been there for many generations. This also meant that quality old items would be on sale with the downside being that the sale would attract heaps of buyers (which also usually means inflated prices).
A rather splendid bird’s eye maple frame for a large engraving of Mary of Scotland Mourning, complete with a priest and Bishop now at home in the dining room.
The auction houses are well organised for online bidders, with the catalogues going online a few days before, complete with photos, descriptions and usually a price guide. Since being in the country, I’ve been using absentee bid forms and often felt I’ve just missed out on many items, so am now venturing into the world of live online bidding, which is a great system, watching the auction live and having screen facilities tracking the bids and letting you enter your own bid and confirming if it’s the highest. But it also can be dangerous if you don’t hold to a strong discipline.
A sweet little antique oak hall table.
Armed with my list of “interesting” lots, I spent a long day (yes, it takes up a lot of the day if you sit through the whole auction) for a slow paced auction (only slow because of the number of bidders – in the room, absentee and online). It was a bumper day in terms of high sales for the owners and auctioneers, but also a rewarding one for me as I managed to gain some gems.
A very rustic French provincial antique walnut side table.
I limited myself to smaller items that would fit in the car as courier costs are prohibitive. That being said, I missed out on many but ended up with a successful day. One of the aspects of antique auctions I enjoy is learning more. I’m not too bad on styles, periods, some of the manufacturers but there are always more levels of detail. This auction I learnt about bird’s eye maple, that provides a rather splendid frame surrounding a large engraving now hanging in the dining room. I also discovered reverse glass painting which happens to be the style used in a small painting featuring nuns.
Other purchases included:
an small antique oak hall table
a small rustic French provincial walnut side table
a very rustic painted timber bird cage
two gorgeous old copper pots for outside
a character-filled iron kerosine lamp stand which looks right at home on the back verandah
A small brass spark screen for the fireplace under restoration.
All in all, a great day which meant a very long day following as I made my way to Maitland and back to collect my items. The exercise was badly marred by my first kangaroo kill. So far I must have avoided 20 or 30 roos on the road and prided myself of taking care. Unfortunately I was not so lucky this time and didn’t have a chance to miss the poor kangaroo. No damage to the car, but lots of tears and guilt which took some of the shine off the auction results.
One of two splendid copper pots.A very rustic old painted bird cage which has taken up residence in the garden.
Picking the basil before the frosts hit. Lots of frozen pesto getting put away.
The veg patch is a bit quiet at the moment as the Summer veg has finished and I replenish the beds for Winter. That being said, there are a few gems that are worthy of extended use.
Tangy and thick, Chilli Jam.
The chillies are abundant at the moment, particularly the orange Siam, the tiny bird’s eye Thai and the Jalapeño, so some bottled chilli stuff seems like a good idea. I already have chilli oil in bottles so am trying Chilli Jam for the first time. Some Sweet Chilli Sauce is also going into the pantry.
The tarragon has gone into white wine vinegar for future cooking escapades and the basil is contributing to pesto.
Sweet Chilli Sauce.A healthy mix of chillies.
Tarragon Vinegar should be a good addition to the pantry.
My old tapestry stand provided an ideal display for scarves and helped highlight the stall.
Easter is one of the bigger market days for Rylstone Artisan Markets. I’ve only held my stall there since Christmas and we are just beginning to hit the time when woollies are becoming more of a priority.
The markets this weekend were highly successful. It seemed like lots of visitors each time I looked around and this translated into my best sales to date by far. The lacy light scarves were again highly popular and have proved to be a mainstay – now requiring serious replenishing. The new linen stitch scarves were also a hit with men and women alike. Beanies and mitts also easily found new homes.
I thought I was really well stocked but now face another solid month of knitting to replace stock. Hopefully I’m recognising the trends and can focus on what seems to be selling well. I’ve been careful not to overprice and it’s refreshing to hear people say what good value the knits are and that perhaps they are underpriced.
People appear to appreciate the use of fine yarns and a sense of individuality and the quality of the knits. No doubt the identification with the Convent is an element of interest and some self-promotion with my prize ribbons doesn’t go unnoticed. My customers appear to be a healthy mix of visitors and locals and I now have a number of return customers. The kits are also proving popular with knitters, with the chance to complete an item with quality yarns.
I’m now looking forward to the cooler market months and may fit in a couple of different local markets as well. In the meantime, those needles won’t have much downtime.
The linen stitch scarves were a hit and also provide another kit for keen knitters. These are not a quick knit.
The Easter markets are supposed to be pretty big ones for Rylstone Artisan Markets and I’ve been stocking up. My very first market was the pre Christmas one and whilst it was also one of the “big” market days, December is not exactly a great month for knits. Although I’ve been happy with the reception to date, I’m hoping that I’ll now start hitting my straps as the weather cools off.
The featherweight lace scarves have done well in the warmer weather but I’m now thinking that mitts, beanies and scarves will now be in more demand. Each month I try and add a new knit – this month it’s the variegated self-patterning sock yarn knits. I’m pretty well stocked up this market and am looking forward to seeing my fellow stall holders and having more chats with the locals and visitors over the long weekend.
In moving out to the country, it means there is no local wool shop within cooee. Very literally. I’m used to accessing great bricks and mortar yarn shops – either locally, CBD or within reasonable driving distance. Here, it’s a bit different and the internet is your friend – fortunately I’m highly familiar with online purchasing.
That being said, I still love a visit to a yarn shop or purchasing directly and after a little exploration, I’m delighted at what I’m finding. It appears I’ve landed in the centre of The Alpaca Universe, with many wonderful alpaca breeders who provide fibre and yarn as well. Apparently this is a great alpaca area and I’ve found the breeders here to be highly organised and professional.
I suspect this is the beginning of a new love affair with Marlyn Alpaca
One of the Alpaca producers, Marlyn Alpacas, breeds, mills and sells their own yarn which is quite stunning and available in a range of plys and colours. They obviously know and love their flock well and can name the alpacas by the colour of the yarn. It’s such a treasure to have this producer as a neighbour that breeds, shears and then mills and distributes such high quality yarn. Many other breeders also offer their fibre for sale which is highly valued in an area well populated by experienced spinners.
Whilst for Sydney-siders it may seem a considerable distance, once in the country you get used to country driving. Blackheath is a nice trip to take for the day considering other attractions such as a great nursery, the antiques centre, coffee shops and a great butcher … let alone an extra drive into Leura for chocolates at Josophans. But the big attraction has to be The House of Wool at Blackheath which stocks indie yarns that are beautifully dyed. I know all too well how easy (and often cheaper) it is to buy standard commercial brands online, but to see, feel and purchase direct such lovely yarns always will be exciting for a dedicated knitter.
Needless to say, I’m not suffering too much from access to good yarn in the country. Nor am I buffered from temptation.
My first venture into The House of Wool. By no means my last. Wonderful unique yarn each purchase.
Turning the whey – after gently heating milk and mixing in rennet and bacteria or starter. Then letting it set a little and cutting it.
Last year my friend and I attended introductory cheese making classes at High Valley Wine and Cheese at Mudgee run by The Cheesemaking Workshop and had a wonderful time making soft cheeses, including camembert, fetta, ricotta, quark, marscapone and yogurt. Over the weekend we ventured into advanced cheese making with hard cheese such as cheddar, havarti, haloumi as well as mozzarella and blue vein.
I think this was the mozzarella. Note how this has thickened into a single “blob” rather than the creamy curds.Draining the whey so we can set the cheese in hoops.
Lots of fun and lots to learn. It’s continually surprising to see the different varieties you can produce with the same base ingredients but different temperatures, techniques, timing and, of course, bugs. Anyway, at a fast pace we worked on five cheeses in teams of five and had the opportunity to mix, cut, turn, heat, wash and drain whey to come home with multiple cheeses to mature before eating. Some of the cheeses such as haloumi and mozzarella can be made and eaten the same day.
Draining cheese in hoops. I believe this is the haloumi.This is the cheddar draining.
I already usually have yogurt and ricotta in the fridge and churn any spare cream into butter rather than throw it out, but now plan to expand the efforts considerably. The mozzarella an haloumi will be great additions for the fridge.
I’d encourage anyone to give it a go. Whilst it’s much easier after attending classes and buying a kit, it’s also something that can be picked up after a bit of research and practice.
A sample plate of the cheeses we learnt at the workshop.Waxing cheddarLittle havartis that will be dried.
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CONVENT AND CHAPEL 