"Welcome Back"

We think of it as an extension of the Guild: Filous Patisserie, Lygon St, Carlton.

Just to make me feel as though the feeling might be mutual, the greeting I got this morning when I lined up for my customary coffee and chocolate muffin, was "Welcome Back". Wonderful words, those! A great way to prepare for a day of creative, but exacting work. Dropping in at Filous before class became part of my routine for the Weaving Certificate at the Guild last year.

The routine goes something like this:

• breakfast of fruit, cereal and espresso at home some time between 7 & 8 am. Make that 2 espressos, it's Saturday, after all
• pack for class: books, pencil case, writing paper, graph paper, loom, accessories, lunch box and other sundry items . . . I always throw in a handwork project at the last minute, just in case there are a few spare minutes in the day . . . did I happen to mention I'm a bit of an optimist?
• plan to leave home some time around 9 am
• pack the car with aforementioned stuff: it takes at least one more trip and several more attempts at fitting everything into the car than I anticipate, even after doing it 17 times last year
• mental check on cash supplies as I drive off, resulting in side-trip to the auto-teller
• 20 min drive towards the city--usually a tram or two to negotiate along the way
• internal debate on the last section of Lygon St before reaching Carlton: "will I drive up the lane and drop off the loom, or just carry it across the road?" Today I decided to take advantage of the loading zone conveniently located at the door of the Guild rooms
• turn left into "Shakespeare St". I guess it's more than a laneway, but only just
• assess parking situation, while waving to various other students arriving at the same time
• stop when safe--today I was lucky, I didn't have to manouvre around many other cars
• quickly unload loom and (big) bag of stuff
• drive away, while greeting more fellow students
• cross Lygon St--negotiating traffic and trams--park in the all day free on Saturday parking area next to the Cemetery
• lock and leave the car
• cross Lygon St again--negotiating traffic and trams again, on foot this time

. . . it is at this point that Filous becons me! I have to walk past the door you can see in the pic above to get back to the Guild. I'm tired already! Class hasn't even started, and it's always theory first. I stop and join the queue. A smile and a greeting added to the coffee and chocolate muffin and I'm ready for a day of weaving. Five minutes to catch up with a few more of the weavers who have made the same decision makes me even readier. It's approaching 10 am and Gerlinde always starts on time. Ready, set. . . welcome back!