Sunday Notes from the Bookshop

School holiday edition

Our little bookshop

Braving the arctic winds, I set out the A-frames and the flags. Just as I'm straightening the last one, I spot our lovely 85-year-old local author and friend across the road, making his slow but determined way to church, dapper as ever. We exchange a cheery wave across the street, and my wind-chilled heart is warmed right up. It's Sunday, it's the school holidays and I'm hoping for a reasonably busy day.

A visitor picked up Guide to Native Orchids of Victoria by Gary N Backhouse. I told her, half in relief, half in jest, that I was glad she’d gone for orchids and not mushrooms. She smiled and said she’d nearly bought the fungi guide for her husband, as a joke. He gets nervous now when she cooks mushrooms, even though she doesn’t forage. We both paused. This recent mushroom poisoning case is a deeply tragic story. I can’t begin to imagine how the families involved are bearing up, carrying such grief and pain under the weight of overwhelming public scrutiny.

Visitors who are meeting with extended family pop in for their second visit of the weekend. They inquire about the price of the The French Cooking Academy Cookbook, a book by two Port Fairy locals who run a very successful Youtube called, surprisingly, The French Cooking Academy. Their cookbook is excellent, by the way. They decide they can't afford the new price today, but will follow up the Youtube channel, and took away a handful of preloved crime novels instead. (Here’s the Youtube link.) The visitors are set to babysit the grandkids tonight while their kids have a well-deserved night out at one of Port Fairy's best restaurants in the cosy and historic Merrijig Inn.

A visiting family sit around reading books and scrolling on their phones. They ask about coffee, noticing our coffee machine, but we don't have a permit to sell coffee so we can't offer them one. They might think our bookshop is a community library, but I am just assuming that by the way they are reading their way through all the books and returning them to the shelves.

Visitors from yesterday returned to pick up A New Earth: Create a Better Life by Eckhart Tolle and Healing Through Words by Rupi Kaur. They were somewhat stunned - or comically flabbergasted - to discover that the house they’ve been part-timing in for two decades is right next door to none other than Australia’s literary legend, Jock Serong. Yes, that Jock Serong. They first met him twenty years ago, when he was a lawyer with a proper job and presumably a tie. Fast forward to today, and Jock has retired from law, penned seven novels, written screenplays and articles, run a literary journal, and popped up at nearly every writer’s festival on the planet. And somehow, only now have they connected the dots. “Ohhh,” they said, “so that’s why he doesn’t leave the house every morning with his briefcase.”

A family with children who are on a whale-watching mission pick up Rosie's Garden by Olivia Coates and a couple of preloved children's books. They ask if it's the right season for whales, and it really is bang-on the season for spotting them. Along with the expected southern right whales, people have even spotted orcas off our beaches recently.

My friendly author popped in after church, glowing with Sunday serenity. Just as we were settling into our conversation, another elderly friend from church arrived. I feel like I should have an urn on by now. It didn't take long until we were deep in the weeds of a very niche topic: pipe organs. Apparently, there’s one up for grabs which is just the right size, and price (free) for the little church across the road. Is there anything more majestic than polished pipes thundering out some dramatic hymns as the sunlight pours in through the stained glass? But the congregation is hesitant. They're concerned that such a hefty musical addition might scare off the youth. To which one of them shrugged and said with gentle honesty, “But … there are no youth at church.” Sound logic. If there are any organ-related developments, you’ll be the first to know.

A lovely young couple are interested in the art exhibition by Janette Lucas, and specifically one artwork. They spend some time contemplating a purchase. I offer to take off the commission to make it a more affordable price, but they decide not to go ahead with it. Meanwhile, he purchases two preloved Folio Society books.

We have a bit of a funny moment at the till while trying to process a sale of How It Feels to Float by Helena Fox. My visitor tries to pay with an American debit card, and my EFTPOS machine immediately panics, completely freezes like it’s just been handed a moral dilemma. Of course, this happens right after I’ve told them how I have accidentally (and only very occasionally, I might add) put through preloved books as new books. Great timing. So now, when I ask her to try a different card, it definitely looks like I’m pulling something dodgy. In a last-ditch effort to lighten the mood (and convince her I’m not some kind of literary scammer), I make a joke about finding new ways to rip off my customers. Without missing a beat, she grins and says, “Looks like you’re making a habit of it now.” And that’s how it goes. It's always heartening when people roll with the glitches.

Local artist Robert Gatt came in to drop some artworks off, and to pick up some pieces, to freshen up what we have available. Aren't these vases just stunning? They're painted with a slip, which I think shows some pretty impressive control (if you've ever mucked around with clay and slip, you'll know why it's called slip)! Robert and his wife Freya Marriott are a creative duo who have Port Fairy's Glass & Art Studio in Regent Street for over 30 years. Also known as Eclectic Glass, and you can visit their website here.

Beautiful, colourful, playful ceramics by Robert Gatt & Freya Marriott

A lovely pair of people pick up Whalefall by American author Daniel Krauss and As You Were by Irish author Elaine Feeney. The rain is hammering down and of course I've run out of bags to carry books away in. People are either having them wrapped in brown paper, or just stuffing them inside their coats as they leave. It's truly torrential.

A visitor who declares herself a friend of my friends who run the gorgeous Leaf Bookshop in Melbourne's Ashburton pops in desperate to find a book to tide her over until she's back in Leaf's range. She picks up Robbie Arnott's The Rain Heron. Which seems appropriate, given the thundering rain currently going on outside. She said her sister was in the car, unable to get out, because she'd parked over a huge puddle! (Was that intentional entrapment, I wonder?)

A lovely friend dropped in to pick up the beautiful The Book of Australian Trees by Inga Simpson, as a birthday gift for a lucky grandchild.

Lovely locals who run another great business in town dropped in on a rare day off. We talked about how those of us who run businesses have over the years missed out on a lot of social occasions because raising families and running businesses concurrently generally means you are busy doing either one or the other - so our social lives are fairly threadbare. Through our businesses we do have people come to us, it’s true, and it is a great way to meet a huge variety of people. However these connections are often fleeting, and difficult to turn into longer/stronger relationships. They were kind enough to purchase a couple of books, including Stink Bug by Sinead Stubbins and Hermit: A Memoir of Finding Freedom in a Wild Place by Jade Angeles Fitton.

And that’s my fun Sunday. The rain has kept people from venturing out much today, so it’s not as busy as we would have hoped. HOWEVER, we love the rain. We are grateful for the rain. It’s been so, so, so dry here up until recently so it’s a huge relief to have this rainy Sunday. Anyway, I have a friend waiting for me across the road with a glass of red so it’s bye for now.