As the weeks go by and we get more used to our enforced slow down, we are all having very different experiences. Some may be enjoying time away from the usual hurley-burley to get those little jobs done around the house and garden, or stuck into craft and sewing projects, some may be enjoying the walks (me) and getting a foretaste of what retirement will be like (me)
For others this is no fun at all - stressed, lonely, and stuck.
Jim and I are nervously awaiting the imminent arrival of the youngest Gaffney and our first grandchild*. His Mum and Dad's wedding catering business has ground to a halt of course. Younger son Sean, has been helping out at World Textile Days and was hoping to start doing some of our shows this year. No way that's happening, so he has taken a job cooking and serving meals at Cardiff's main Heath Hospital. Life everywhere seems to be "on hold"
Here at Textile Traders we are adapting - the shop is, of course closed and all our World Textile Days until September are cancelled. I got some wonderful clothes made in Thailand over the winter and the last of these arrived last month. Sadly, it all went up into the attic for now!
Ali, who usually works part time for us has been "furloughed" and we carry on with stock preparation and mail order.
* STOP PRESS Baby Ferdi has arrived! | | | I have been keeping in touch with friends in Java, in Bali and in north Thailand - people we buy from every year, and who have become great friends over the years and sometimes decades we have known each other. I'd like to share some of their news.
We've known Susi (in the photos above with me and taking batik class) since our kids were small and she had her 4 sons at home. Her husband died young and she worked hard getting 3 of the boys jobs as crew on cruise ships. One of them is still out in America now, stuck on a ship and unable to get home.
In normal times, she and her brother teach batik classes from their back street home to visitors and tourists. Everyone who has been on my Java trips will remember Susi with love and affection as our "Fixer in Chief". But now the tourists have all disappeared,
Susi is also the "headman" of her "kampung" (neighbourhood) responsible for the well-being of around 50 families.She has always organised street clean ups, daytrips, celebrations and mutual aid schemes for her families and she is needed now more than ever - finding hand sanitiser for all, explaining the advice and making sure there is enough food to go round.
The Indonesian Government advice is "Just stay home" but that spells disaster for the millions of people who work out on the streets and markets in their micro-businesses - selling food, transport, clothes and what have you.
I was especially worried about the becak (bicycle rickshaw) drivers who I've come to know over the past 35 years. Like so many they live day to day - no work = no food.
It's down to thousands of people like Susi to make sure that people are getting the essentials. The local mosques too are centres of distribution - as they always have been. When times are tough, (like after the tsunami in Sumatra and the earthquake in Java) it is to the mosque that many Indonesians turn.
My other great friend is Nia, who runs a batik studio with her husband Ismoyo (pictured below) They employ around 20 people. They provide our wonderful three day masterclass in art batik using canting and cap and we sell their wonderful silk scarves on our website. She says
"All of our shows, workshops and residencies have been cancelled. Our shop in Ubud has been closed for three weeks now. To date we have not received any support from the government though some of the folks in the studio have received packages with staples like rice, oil, sugar the basic food needs. We are so lucky that Ismoyo has such deep faith. At times like this he is the rock we stand on. He believes we will make it through this alright. Ismoyo said if we are going down we’ll go down together as these people are family by now and we cannot lay them off....so we take it day by day. I guess that is one of the important lessons we are gleaning from covid. We embrace these lessons and hope we can shape a better world from this pandemic" | | | In Thailand, my tailor friend Pu and my friends Toy and Nisachon (who are both pictured below) report that "Songkhran" the big Thai New Year Festival when everyone goes mad and gets drenched with water, has been cancelled, the streets and markets are quiet and nobody is buying or ordering clothes right now. The weavers and the dyers and the seamstresses are all affected. There is a bit more support from the State in Thailand, but also much more reliance on tourism.
Tourism is a double edged sword - without the extra traffic and the planes, the skies are clear, and there are heartening stories about the wonderful recovery of marine life in the seas and beaches around Bali and the south of Thailand. But of course, those who make their living from it are suffering, and that includes more than just the people... there are also distressing reports of elephants in the numerous elephant parks in the north. Without visitors, there is not enough to feed the animals, and they have become too domesticated to fend for themselves.
Jim and I are thinking about ways to help the people and businesses we rely on, and as well as trying to continue selling and therefore re-ordering, I am sending out funds to help as much as possible. Many of the people who have been on my Java trips have very generously contributed and I have now sent out first chunks to help batik makers, becak drivers, market traders and neighbours. It feels good to have the personal connections, and of course their stories are multiplied millions of times over around the world.
This disease has shown up the huge inequalities in our country where our vital "key workers" are still hard at work but are often the lowest paid. It is also showing up the huge unevenness in response to the virus across the world. | | | Toy in her Chiang Mai shop where I have spent many a happy hour, and where we buy many of our natural dyed fabrics and clothes, and Nisachon with her weaving in Isaan , northeast Thailand and one of the stunning jackets from her on our website. | | Finally... Yes we are still open for business - but only via our website. It may not be obvious to those who don't know us, but Jim and I live here in the High Street in the same building as our shop, so we don't have to go out to work - just walk through the living room into the office, the stock room and shop to pick up orders, pack them and walk down to our local post office. Thankfully posties and couriers are still delivering.
We have finally succumbed to pressure and put a few clothes on the website. We usually only sell these through the shop and shows as they are all individual and not standard sizes but I've photographed and measured carefully and we'll see how it goes. Of course if you want something specifically which isn't on the website, just get in touch - we're not going anywhere!
We're selling loads more batik kits and batik equipment so lots of people are trying or going back to batik. We're also selling fabrics for upholstery, dressmaking and patchwork projects.
This weekend would have been our first and favourite wool show of the year - Wonderwool! Camping out in Big Green Van and two days in a freezing cattle shed! But the warmth of the other stall holders, the organisers and volunteers and our customers brings us back year after year. But this year you will have to join in Virtual Wonderwool (through Facebook)
To commiserate, we are offering a 10% discount on everything over the weekend of 25th and 26th April. The code at the check out on our website is SPRING2020
Our good friends and colleagues Bob and Magie should be at the New Forest Textile Fiesta but likewise are at home. They are using the same 10% discount code (SPRING2020) on their African Fabric Shop website too.
Meanwhile, I hope you keep well and let's enjoy the good things (there are some!) about this time as well as we can.
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