Knee high socks, Prada and The Queen

It’s a glorious Daylesford winter morning and I’m tucked up in bed still recovering from recent visit to hospital; all toasty under two feather duvets, one woollen blanket and a possum throw.  But something's missing? Serenading French Army around the bed? Good hair? Jumping out of bed to go make a pot of tea, warm feet hit the Titanic chill of naked floor boards. Ahhh... that's it...socks! With no Marks and Spencer, Sock Shop or even British Home Stores (bhs) just down the road, a whole new plan is needed for this sock crisis.

Adjusting from European High Street to village shops has been interesting. Previously my shopping basket wove around Selfridges and Marylebone High Street (London), Galleries Lafayette and Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré (Paris). Happily, I haven’t exactly landed in a shopping desert, as Daylesford has probably the most picturesque streetscape of boutique shops and florists that one is ever likely to find in Australia. It’s a delicious mix of artisan (lots of wrought iron, handmade paper, Alpca clothing), art, homewares, antiques, collectibles, wool, and quite surprisingly, great kitchenware. The chicest of all has to be Peonies and Picnics, with its rustic French linen table clothes and napkins, antique French glassware and Gallic pewter plates and platters, piled up on antique European furniture.  But no knee high socks in sight!...Read more...