Perth Tales....A verge collection, a new (old) coffee table and a HUGE spider

April 2011

When we were living in Perth a few years ago, we used to take a trip around our neighbourhood every few months before the verge collection and see if there were any bits being left out that we could use in our little (already oddly) furnished rental. We collected all sorts of handy items, from a pale pink leather recliner chair (well worn but very comfortable) to crockery (which we soaked in bleach and boiling water before using) and we rescued a lovely coffee table that had been left in the sun too long and had gone almost completely white. 

The photo below isn't very clear, but that's M standing by the verge where we found the table, just in front of the biggest spider web I have ever seen. 

The web stretched between the two lemon trees, with multiple layers of web and a trail of dead wasps behind the spider

I spotted the table from across the road and ran straight over to take a look. I'd just bent down and was leaning in to take a closer look at the state of the table top, when M said, very calmly and quietly, "Claire, don't stand up, but there is a huge spider over your head...." My skin was already crawling as I twisted around carefully to see where the beastie was and because I was so close, I couldn't actually see the web at first, just the spider dangling about 2 feet away from my head! I gasped as quietly as possible and pretzeled myself backwards so fast to get out from under the spider, then did a little dance while wringing my hands in the middle of the road...half convinced the spider had somehow gotten onto me.

The Spider, with a convenient dead wasp to show scale

We're pretty sure she's a Golden Orb Spider - which as it turns out, aren't deadly. The effects of a bite are nausea and dizziness and thankfully, they're usually reluctant to bite humans

Close up of some of the spider web, we didn't touch it of course, but it looked really strong and quite tough

So after all the excitement of nearly getting eaten by a spider...ahem...we carefully took a look at the table and realised it was actually a really nice solid piece of furniture, slide it out from under the web and carried it home. Then we returned later that afternoon to photograph the fabulous - just don't let it touch me - spider

Work in progress in our back yard - M had already started to sand the table and the grain was starting to come through  the white sun bleached varnish

Finished sanding, now for the varnish

M spent about three evenings sanding the table (I sanded some of the legs and the sides) and once we'd sanded all the white varnish away and the grain was clearly showing, it was time to re varnish it. That took another two evenings and a few coats of varnish so it would be properly protected. I loved how much the table changed over the space of a week from a white, sun damaged piece of indeterminate wood, to a beautiful, detailed - albeit still indeterminate - coffee table.

Detail on the legs of the table - I loved how a natural ying and yang shape emerged through the grain 

Close up of the table top - this had been almost completely white from all the old varnish and resin baking in the sun

The finished table

If you're not familiar with verge collections; they used to happen every 4 months or so while we were living in Perth. We'd get a notice from the local council advising of the date and people would start to leave their old furniture, white goods, bikes and general oddments on the verge - the grassy patch in front of the house - in the week before the collection and we - as well as other groups of optimistic upcyclers - would wander around and collect any bits and pieces that looked reusable or interesting. Our little town house was already furnished, but sparsely, with an odd mix of tables, chairs and side units and we added our loot to what we realised must have been previous tenants spoils from verge collections past.

There was something similar in Barcelona when I lived there a few years ago and it was always a thrill to find a handy side table or in my flatmate's case, a fabulous dark wood wardrobe with beautiful carved doors that had to be carried, dragged and pulled up five flights of narrow stairs to get to our apartment on the top floor. And was it worth it? Definitely!

I heart you pre loved

I've always loved going to charity shops. I think at this stage, roughly 70% - 80% of the clothes I own (apart from my underwear) are pre loved, and at least 90% of our furniture is either pre-loved, or re-loved, so rescued from the side of the street...or out of a skip and fixed up.

I love charity shops for so many reasons; the main ones are easy to tick off; it’s great helping the charity out, prices are so much more reasonable, I love that I’m helping recycle clothes, I won’t get into the sheer volume of power consumed in order to make a single white shirt (this is apart from the mostly, gross exploitation of the people making the clothes) and this “wear it once and throw away” attitude some people have drives me nuts! To me, there’s nothing better than finding a “hidden gem” in a charity shop or in a skip, for example....

                                                             My ceramic baking hen

I first spotted ceramic baking hens in Habitat in Dublin about ten years ago. If you’re not familiar with Habitat, it was one of my favourite stores, until I realised that while the products are lovely, it’s very much a life style brand and although it has such beautiful “retro” cups and plates etc, they are mass produced and they’re all sold at modern, expensive prices. So I would browse in Habitat, never actually buy anything, just sigh over the lovely faux vintage tea sets. I spotted a terracotta baking/roasting hen there one day that I fell in love with, although I couldn't afford at the time (being a poor art student and everything) and so I just filed it away in the “things I’d like to have some day” section of my mind....

Then in 2011, myself and M were still living in Perth and while walking around Fremantle one day, (don’t ask me why) but I was trying to describe this terracotta baking hen to M, without much success... “you see, it’s a hen shaped baking dish that you take apart and put a chicken inside and roast it and....it’s amazing”.... anyway, we headed into Vintage Vinnie’s (Australian version of St Vincent de Paul’s) and there on a shelf, just inside the door, was a white ceramic baking hen....Which I took as fate, although how my fate is entwined with a ceramic baking hen, I really couldn't say at this stage....so, I pounced on it and managed to get it for the fantastic price of $20, and both of us (ok, mostly me) were just thrilled by the oddly timed coincidence of my trying (and failing) to describe a baking hen I'd seen, some ten years earlier in Dublin and then finding an even more beautiful, vintage version literally minutes after I'd been talking about it. 

This gorgeous ceramic hen has surpassed all my expectations, it’s (obviously) perfect for roasting chickens; the bird doesn't need basting or even checking during cooking, as the glazed ceramic inside keeps the chicken beautiful and moist while it’s in the oven; “fall off the bone” tender is the best description of the meat after an hour and a half in the ceramic hen; it even helps the chicken skin turn a nice golden brown during cooking, with the lid still firmly sealed in place (which must be some kind of voodoo) and it is just fantastic for any kind of slow cooking; casseroles, roast lamb, I've even roasted pumpkin and squash in it, which was delicious and stayed really juicy!

I suppose the point I’m trying to make is, I get so much more out of finding something in a charity shop, or even on the street and fixing/remaking it than I ever do just buying it in a regular shop or online. Even if it means waiting a while, it's usually well worth the wait...