Tuesdays Transactions

8:00
Walk to work under dark black clouds
its quite lovely, I walk slowly.

8:30
Begin day a little late, turn on ipod
make black coffee, for some reason I slept badly..
Not as badly as some,
offer a glass of coffee to the poor boy huddled in the back doorway
keeping out of the rainy weather while
waiting for the bus.

Splitenz sing: "what more can a poor boy do? Oo hoo hoo
what more can a poor boy do? Oo hoo hoo hoo" over the airways..

9:00
S and little Claudia or CLOUDY-er as Tony calls her
come in for bread, sultanas and bananas
in order to make a TANA-NANA sandwich..

I tell Claudia who is a toddler, that I cant remember what life was like
before Claudia.

10:10
Tony now in to do ordering,
is on the phone when a
Customer asks: " Where do I find sea salt?"

and he still manages to answer:" In the sea !"

10:30
Another Customer looks at ingredients of Jemma's Chai Balls
sitting on the counter and asks: " What do they do?"

Confused I reply : "sit in the jar until you eat them?!"

Customer replied: " No I mean, like, you know, super foods,
raw ingredients, What do they do, I thought they might do something."

Some days I am frazzled by marketing and hype,
I reply.." Oh I thought you ment
did they spin around or something. They just taste nice."

Consider making another coffee but instead
opt for a bottle of Daylesford spring water.
Its spring water in a glass bottle from the springs at Daylesford. Its wet.

11:00
'Essential Ingredient' delivery guy shows me his pink, actually RED eye.
He is unsure of how he got it, but the corner of his eyeball is completely red.
Mention some remedies, chamomile wash, bilberry, eyebright.

..after he leaves am left humming " I see red, I see red, I see red"

11:08
Klka comes in from next door
We discuss the 'Turtle Cafes' new look
since the fire at the start of the year it has been under construction
and opened Monday with a new look.
A comment is made that the tiled bar is not too dissimilar to that of a urinal!

She tells me the owners of another recently opened cafe said to her;
" They finally got that GRUNGE is out!" as she was ordering her coffee..
" I haven't.." she replied while leaving.
Oh dear, the new polished Elwood is well and truly here..

I look solemnly at the facade of the Elwood General Store,
we do look as though we are representing
'Beirut', with our distressed walls and exposed bricks
while everyone else is representing
Starbucks....

12:00
Decide to rearrange the salt section
we have;
Macrobiotic
Celtic
Murray river
Himalayan
Maldon
Iodised
without Iodine
Rock
Vegetable
Coarse
Fine
Medium ground
and Portuguese.

I wonder if all of my tears I have ever cried,
if they were caught and evaporated,
would the amount of salt that I arranged,
add up to the amount I have cried.?

1:40
N arrives for her shift, a little late
because she had to go into the city to buy a book
we discuss with enthusiasm the book.
Then A the Biodynamic Marketing Delivery guy arrives,
we discuss book with him.
Then we discuss skin cancer, he has just been off work for a month
after having some removed from his foot,
a homeopathic remedy that is made from cancerous breast tissue
and racing car driving.
All the while putting the things he delivered in the fridge.

I show A a mole on my hip/tummy
N shows him a freckle on the palm of her hand.

2:00
Collect some veggies and get ready to leave for my weekend that starts now.
Discuss the tea room progression or lack there of with K.S
get into a conversation about the Global Financial Crisis, New Elwood,
sustainable business and lack there of and Living beyond ones means.

2:30
Go out for Lunch/business meeting with Tony and dont have to push start his car,
which is a miracle.
Can only go to cafe that is near a hill so he can start car again.
Lucky we have already sussed that out!
Enjoy an organic salad and pot of tea in a grungy St.Kilda cafe where
even if you dont know people
everyone smiles at each other as if you do.
Sit on comfy recycled chairs and tables and feel like we are in an old friends kitchen.

Happy week, middle of week or weekend to those who work over the week end.