My Bright Field

Kandos was an industrial town but the cement works and mines have closed in recent years.  So now what? Real estate gets cheaper and that encourages people on less assured incomes to move in -- the artistic community (how nice is that).  Art Box Gallery and Shop  opened recently.  I miss the days when I was flush with money and often explored galleries with the possibility of purchasing something to loves for years to come. Here's a peep through the window of Art Box Gallery.  Kandos also stages  Cement a a bi-annual contemporary arts festival which will be held in November this year.

I am told that Op Shops thrive in country towns and we are no exception, there is a busy Vinnies over the road from the supermarket and a Community Shop further down the street. Being in the process of downsizing I have become a regular contributor to Op Shops rather than a buyer so have never been into Vinnies. Another interesting shop in this part of town is the Laundromat.  I don't think they are all that common these days.

We have reached the busy part of town where there is a well presented and well stocked  IGA Supermarket .  It might not be a Coles or Woolworths but it is certainly great to have a good supermarket in town. Over the road is Coopers Country Meat s which sells locally grown meat.

Like most country towns there are a plethora of closed shops but the interesting thing here is that many of them are occupied as homes with curtains covering the shop windows. And there is also the ubiquitous closed picture theatre.  This one was until recently a Motorcycle Museum and is now currently empty. Now I know that country towns are not the only places with blank shop fronts, many city shopping strips became empty following the arrival of the shopping mall and more recently internet shopping.  What's it like at your place?

Up the hill from the houses is  Aunt Betty's Tea Shop which I have shown earlier in this blog. Aunt Betty went out of  business ages ago, but I am glad the ghost signs remain.  The first commercial premises we find is  Ad Hoc Furniture   where Brett Nutting makes lovely pieces from recycled materials. Below there's a peep through the shop window. What type of furnishings do you prefer ... old with stories to tell, beautiful new pieces or perhaps something like these which are old made new?

Over the road from the houses is Ada Cottage aged care facility.  It is small community of residents for those needing assisted care.  But there are lots of spritely older folk in their 80s and 90s living in their own homes in the town. It was bright sunny weather (that is the brim of my sunhat in the top of the frame) with people out tending their gardens or soaking up the sunshine. We stopped several times on our walk and chatted.  All up we added 11 new acquaintances during our walk.  Being a country town many of the people have known each other from their schooldays but are nonetheless very welcoming of newcomers like us.  Do you live among people you have known for a long time?

Here we go, we are heading along the main street Angus Avenue with the mountain behind us. At this end of the street there are houses.  As in most of Kandos they are modest and well kept older homes on big blocks, nearly every one with neatly mowed lawn.  I would despair of keeping up appearances at my place but for our neighbour keeping our footpath trim with his ride on mower. As several have commented there are very few cars so there is no traffic noise but there is what we call the "Kandos hum" -- the sound of lawn mowers.