Anyway, one day recently she came in wearing this amazing turquoise necklace, and I rambled on in my usual fashion about how brilliant this piece of jewellery was, to which she replied, 'Oh yes, my friend brought it back from Egypt for me.' Oh right, of course, I thought.
I then replied to her, "I need friends like yours!" and in a very tongue in cheek manner, followed this up with
"In fact, I just need friends!" and then I laughed.
You see, I've been living in this beachside community for three and a bit years now, and can say with complete honesty that I have not made a single friend here.
I've been given various opportunities to do so, people scrawl down their numbers, dole out their Facebook details, invite me places, and so on, all (through my own doing) to no avail.
Since I moved here, I have found great joy in the solitude of my own company. I've realised that I am in fact what could reasonably be termed as a 'loner' which is such a sorry sounding word, but I must state, that there is nothing sorry about it at all.
Spending so much time alone after moving from a life with an overflowing social calender took a little adjusting. At first, I found it quiet, and a little daunting to be entirely responsible for entertaining myself, but the awareness of the freedom I had soon became apparent, and I started to paint, to listen to music, to make little bits and pieces by hand.
Since then, it has snowballed, and now I have immersed myself to the armpits in crafting endeavours, and am at a state now where I am all consumed (in joyus and delightful ways) by handmade pursuits. So when these offers of social interaction arrive, I have somewhat of an internal struggle.
Is this event going to be good enough, or this person entertaining enough to come up to par with the crochet I have waiting on the hook at home? Am I going to find idle chit-chat more entertaining than the sound of my sewing machine whispering softly along? So far, the answer has been No.
I am yet to take a single person up on the offer they've put forward for social engagements, and quite satisfied with the fact that it will take a rather amazingly entertaining, witty, and socially marvelous creature to draw me out of my craft hole and interact with them.
As you can understand, I didn't really have the time, or consider it entirely appropriate to lay these facts out before dear Isabella, due firstly to time constraints in the customer, salesperson relationship, and secondly to the fact that she could quite possibly think I was a rambling nutcase.
So, without these details at hand, she got slightly distressed about my barren social landscape, 'Oh No!' She said. I quickly tried to explain that it was not something to be overly concerned about, and I was quite content in my little world of craft, which seemed to be an acceptable response, for nothing further was mentioned on the subject.
A few days later, Isabella came in once again to purchase some thing or other, what I do not quite recall, but that is of great insignificance to the story. Once again, she wowed me with her collection of glorious items, this time toting a... well a tote.
A handcrafted tote, which I gazed at longingly and cooed something admiring about.
Anyway, purchases were made, small talk exchanged, etcetera, you know how it goes, and I thought no more of it until....
Yesterday, I arrived at work, and there sitting on the counter was a little paper bag with my name on it. Something for me? Hmmmm... what could that possibly be? I thought? 'Where did this come from?' I asked my workmate, she didn't have a clue, so I was left to peek inside, and see what it might be.....
And there, inside, low and behold, was a bag, just like the one I had recently been admiring!
 |
| Complete with a darling little fabric covered brooch |
And inside was this...
Later that day, Isabella came in to see me, I was of course, overflowing with thanks and warm words, what a simply delightful thing she did.
The bag was, she informed me, entirely handcrafted with vintage fabrics, and purchased from a lovely seller at the Bangalow Markets. (Swoon!) Which explains the little card.
A handcrafted treasure of my very own, made by a local artisan, and not only that, gifted to me, by a lovely kind thoughtful lady. My dreams had all come true!
She then proceeded to inform me that the markets are on in a couple of weeks, and that she will come and pick me up because I will be going with her. To which I replied, Oh fantastic, that sounds great!
And there you have it! I've found my first friend. Enticed by handcrafted goods, how could I possibly resist?Surely someone who is so thoughtful and generous cannot possibly be outdone by some wool and a stick! That's right, most certainly not!
I can't wait for our market adventure, and the treasures I might just find, and the friendship I might just build.
Much love ..xx
P.S. If you want to find out more about the maker of this glorious bag, you can find her work here
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