Koha

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when my friend Rachelle decided to leave the land of clouds

for the West Island [usually somewhat dustier pastures]

she kindly left a treasure parcel behind

for me to collect the next time i drifted into the city of winds and waters

i arrived in Welly to find that our mutual friend Caroline

[who had been the guardian of the treasure in the months since Rachelle departed]

had kindly delivered it to my helltell.

there were many treasures

including things found, stitched and dyed

gathered by Rachelle over years

[her gathering skills are legendary]

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had it been a weekday i would have been tempted to ship my Koha south to await my next visit to the Lud Valley

but

it wasn't, so i unpacked and repacked.

fortunately i had been travelling relatively lightly 

[bar feeding the book addiction with acquisitions]

in the end i was left with the empty red suitcase

[i did try fitting it inside my bigger one]

and the question of what to do with it.

giving it to the Sallies was a possibility

but i was sure there was a more amusing solution

so

i decided to step out into the whirled 

and see where the colour red might lead

maybe the red suitcase could follow red markers and

find a new home

drifting along my trail

i found myself on Cuba Street

then wandered a little sideways

through a park with red gates

and saw Global Fabrics in the distance

upon which it occurred to me that quite often [on a Sunday]

there are students and other young folk working in the store

who might be able to use a suitcase

and

i

was

right

 

 

Brooke Barrett 

was very happy to give the suitcase a home

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after which i followed some more red marks

and went home myself

walk this way, please

those of you who were brought up properly will remember this phrase

spoken by Igor

[played brilliantly by the late Marty Feldman]

in the film classic

'Young Frankenstein'

the Amuse Museum in Tokyo

does it with signage

and without the "thump, drag"

if that doesn't make sense to you go ask your mother

or

work your way through this post

elucidation as a reward

right at the bottom

today i went to the Amuse Museum

and followed the pointing fingers around

feasted my eyes on exquisitely the patched and mended

textiles in the Boro exhibition

a small part of Tanaka-san's wonderful collection

i was stunned that visitors were encouraged to touch these

precious fragments

but very grateful that photography was permitted

and now, for something completely different

shedding light on "thump, drag"

orienting myself to boro

while navigating my way to the airport and trying to avoid toll roads as well as Melbourne's zero tolerance speed cams

i chanced upon Tombo, in High Street, Northcote

it's a rather lovely store full of delicious oriental treasures

including several large

indigo boro pieces

i also found an exquisite Indian box

just the right size for my tide of pearl buttons

and justified its purchase

of course i need that box

so i can fill it with buttons

and photograph it for my next book

good thing there was space in my Brown Bag

did somebody mention that good things come in threes?

third time lucky, again.

i'm really beginning to enjoy collecting the mail.

the presence of windowed bills and suchlike

is being mitigated by much more interesting things

today i found a parcel from Aotearoa

which contained

sox in a box

knitted by the amazing Jo Kinross

who not only organised the workshops in Nelson

[in May this year]

but also gave me the hemp dress that has become my

'daily drive'

now with a small 'boro' patch

and wearing its second layer of dye

solidago canadensis + eucalyptus crenulata

and the sox even came with their very own repair kit!

Boro: Rags and Tatters from the Far North of Japan

gentle readers,

does anybody out there have a copy of this book that they would be prepared to part with?

Boro:

Rags and Tatters from the Far North of Japan

i'd be happy to give it a good home in exchange for money or if you prefer, a length of ecoprint silk or wool

please leave me a comment if you have it or know where i can find it

Readings Bookstore have just advised they are unable to source this book after all...does anybody have a copy they'd be willing to trade?