Yesterday Herself and I did our second and third spinning demonstrations. I had ruthlessly greased and oiled Ertoel Emma, my treadle wheel and she is now working a great deal better. Added to that we had more time than we had for any of our previous demonstrations but I still overspun shamelessly as though the devil was after me, forgetting what we were told when, in the very olden days, D3 and I attended spinning lessons (that was in the days before Internet and very much before U-Tube) "slow treadle to spin and go like the clappers when plying".
However, the audience was very uncritical except for one little boy who took one look at Emma and said to me, 'I know what that is for; it is to make gold.' I told him that I was sorry but I wasn't able to make gold on Emma. "Ah," he said, "then it makes straw".
I am not sure where he got his information from; Herself is intending to tell the class the story of Rumplestiltskin next week and I doubt if the woes of Eros and Psyche is a fit story for six-year-olds. I can't recall any other straw-to-gold stories offhand but most fairy stories I discovered myself so I could have missed some. My family was more into Winnie the Pooh, Little Ragged Blossom and the big bad banksia men (Snugglepot and Cuddlepie by May Gibbs for non-Aussie readers).
Talking of fairy stories, my American nephew-in-law has just discovered the existence of drop bears, a strictly Australian phenomenon. There is a great deal about them on the internet but basically they are a kind of Koala which lurks in trees and, with all fangs and claws exposed it drops onto the heads of unlucky tourists and rips them up in a rather hostile way. As I understand it, they prefer Scandinavian tourists but all trekkers are advised to speak with an Australian accent and avoid walking under trees.
Edited to add that hearsay suggests that a smear of Vegemite behind the ears may act as a drop bear repellent.
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