Papers papers papers

I have been working late these past two weeks to get a couple of papers ready for submission. They're two papers which will make up half of my PhD thesis and I've been working on them for some time now. I finally submitted one last Wednesday (this one had previously been rejected and needed some further polishing). And I'm about to submit the second. Well, I was until I realised I'd need a particular form emailed to me prior to submission. Bit of an anti-climax! I'm hopeful the American editors are on the ball and respond overnight. 

My reward to myself is a visit to Sydney this weekend, hopefully with sunshine. I had also planned to have my thesis review (a university required "milestone") completed by then - but alas, not to be. So I don't get to go to Sydney with an entirely guilt-free conscience. Then back to finish the next two papers...


I think that's the part I look forward to most in finishing this PhD - the removal of guilt. No matter what I'm doing, I'm always guilty that I'm not working on the PhD. It will be odd not to have that feeling!

Looking forward to some op shopping while in Sydney. Stay tuned for that when I return next week. I'll likely appear here to post during one of my bouts of procrastination.

Suitcase Rummage

Mel and I had a stall at Suitcase Rummage this afternoon. I had a lot of fun and met some lovely people...and surprisingly (to me and, especially to my partner, Andy), I didn't buy anything. I felt a little overwhelmed. There were so many stalls! I sold quite a few treasures but I think the thing I liked most was meeting and chatting with some fellow bloggers like Laura and Jules. It's always nice to meet these people in 'real life'.

One of my favourite aspects of second hand shopping and selling is the story the object carries by simply having a past. I like hearing the history of an item when I buy it and I like when someone tells me what they plan on doing with the item I'm selling them. It keeps the story going. 

I sold a framed print today (which I regret not taking a picture of) to a young lady. On the back of the frame, in faded ink, someone called auntie Flo had written an inscription to her much loved niece, Lil. It was written in 1930. When I found the frame, I immediately daydreamed about Flo and Lil and what they might have looked like. The fact that the new owner seemed equally excited by the inscription made me happy too. Maybe it's silly to be so invested in these things...

Op shopping!

I love op shopping (or thrifting). Have loved it ever since I was little. We rarely ever had new things as children, it was partly out of necessity but mostly because mum appreciated that you could get better quality clothes second hand than the sort of stuff we could afford to buy new. She also loved the hunt. And passed that love onto me and my sisters.

My mate Mel and I are going to have a stall at the very popular Suitcase Rummage tomorrow so I used it as an excuse for some last minute op shopping and I drove over to a new (to me) op shop this morning. I was so excited to spot this beautiful teapot...I've been looking for a small yellow teapot for years and never found the right one, until today! It's just the right size for two cups of tea. 

I also found some beautiful handmade aprons which I'll sell tomorrow. It amazes me that anything so beautiful was ever used to wipe your hands on!