A long time between blogs

Our customers are gold.

Order #6408 was despatched and recorded as delivered, usual for our online orders.

Unusually the customer, 2 weeks after despatch, emailed us today.

He didn’t receive the parcel. Argh! We really hate that on many levels. 

We gave him a quick call to let him know we were on to it. Apologising for the inconvenience, checking address details, etc.

We lodged a inquiry with our courier. By phone and didn’t have to wait for the first available operator, amazing and nice. Finding out it had been delivered to the wrong address, and assured it would be sorted on Monday. Right street, wrong number. Great tracking and fantastic customer complaint service from our courier “Fastway”. Thanks guys. I called back the customer, some 20 mins after my initial call. Letting him know the situation, when it would be resolved – and where his parcel had actually been delivered.

10 minutes later, our customer rang back to let us know he had taken a wander down his road, and found the delivery address. Nice house, nice car in the drive and thought he’d go ask them if they had his parcel. Ballsey, we think. Anyhow, on the porch at their front door, was a lot of stuff, and there amongst the junk mail and household things was his parcel! He rang the doorbell, no one home, then took his parcel and left!

This fantastic customer sorted the mix up, and went out of his way to get (much too late for fathers day) his sock order and was good natured with it. Some people are just lovely and deserve a little karma kickback.

We’ll be sending a little love in his direction. A little instant karma aka Mongrel Tasmanis socks are heading his way. 

2013 x x

Those beanies were on even before they left the shed.

Smiling 'cos he's warm

Hastings Caves a chilly 8 degrees C, no cold ears here.

I sat down to write on of those "2012 was a great year and 2013 is going to be even better, new products blah, blah" posts. A complete waste of time to write or read so......I won't! But I will post some photo's of our just finished, hot from the workshop, Aussie Made Pure Tasmanian Merino Wool Beanies. Road tested over Xmas by the Mongrel socks team and our visiting family. Thanks guys!

A little good thing.

An amazing thing happened today. A good omen. It took a year. Small but definately good.
Our darlin' fashionista brought a gorgeous wool coat last year. Wore it through a frigid Lauceston winter, kept the poor uni student warm. Me, being a thoughtful Mama sent the thing off for a dryclean, and it came back minus it's belt. The dry cleaner said they didn't receive it, and I couldn't find it at home. So the coat went unworn for the next year. Ending up in the back of the closet floor, covered in crap. As the our little is going oversea's next month skiing, she mentioned the coat, and I decided I'd buy some wool fabric and make a replacement. Kicking myself, should have done it 12 months ago! I found & sent the now grotty coat back the dry cleaner, mentioning at the agency, our local shop, ( I didn't even speak to the drycleaner himself), I asked the shop lady to mention the missing belt, on the off chance they still had it or one like it. Typically, never got around to making the belt. I just had the local shop call to tell me the drycleaning is ready for pick up - that service is amazing in itself - AND THEY FOUND THE BELT!!!!

While the rest of Australia melts......

While the rest of Oz melts in 30plus temperatures, in Tassie we enjoy the fickle weather that we're famous for -  4 seasons in one day and no day the same as the last. Tourism Queensland came up with the slogan "Beautiful one day, perfect the next." Sound freaking boring to us Tasmanians, may as well be saying don't open the curtins to see what the day will be like, cos it's gonna be stinking hot again! Anyhow, this is the view from our sock making workshop, photo taken around knock off time, with rain threatening. Gorgeous, eh?

#wearingmongrels

After over 10 years of making Mongrel Socks, we must have turned out many thousands. Still, I can't quite explain the buzz I get when I see someone wearing something I made.
Happened at the supermarket yesterday. Next aisle from ours, minding thier own business. Loz and I both checked out this blokes feet, and had to stop ourselves from interupting the poor fella's shopping to say "Hey, we made those!" It got us to thinking just how far our humble Tasmanian Merino socks, arm/leg warmers etc have travelled.
We are always pumped by the stories our customers are so kind as to relay. Births, deaths and even marriages have had Mongrel Socks play a part! A longtime customer told us about seeing a play at the Sydney Opera House last week "Sex with Strangers" starring Jacqueline McKenzie, wearing our Mongrel Socks on stage! Nice! Would love a photo of that.
As we drove home from the supermarket we reeled off who we knew had worn or been given Mongrels or where they had been.
Here's a few of the people or places we came up with, in no particular order.....
Antarctica, K2, HRH Prince Charles, Jamie Dury, Kara Korum Hwy - Pakistan/China, On a glacier and a volcano in Iceland, Julian Clary, Numerous State and Federal Ministers, A Trucking Magnate, An AFL football team and 650 of their supporters, rafting down through the Yukon and the Franklin River, a full bridal party at Meadowbank, a number a babies born to Mums wearing Mongrels, Paris, Oprah Winfrey's best Gail King, Milan, the list could go on, but I've work to get back to, like making more socks.

A lovely Salamanca Market day

After a break of a month, with Tom and Kels doing us proud at Salamanca Market, Loz & I hit the Market with renewed energy yesterday. Caught up with lots of our lovely fellow stallholder friends, sock customers old and new, and thoroughly enjoyed our day.


We had the fantastic Guerilla Zingari busking near us at Salamanca Market - lucky us!





Jewllery Designer Rebecca Roth's Xmas window has got us feeling all festive.

Rebecca's shop, in the Salamanca Arts Centre, not only showcases her own creations, but also emerging local artists. One of our favourite shops.

Dawn breaking over Seven Mile Beach as we left for the Market - the picture doesn't do it justice.

A wallaby  in our old bath salvaged from our bathroom reno, greeted us when we got home from Salamanca. It was a bizarre sight.

Right Royal Mongrels

Sir Christopher and Loz Esq. Both good blokes!

Prince Charles meeting the producers

Oh here we are, ready and waiting...

In the crush of the Paparazzi

Waiting in the rain for HRH at Salamanca Place, Hobart. Tas.

Team Mongrel Socks met with HRH The Prince of Wales yesterday. We were very chuffed to be invited to meet HRH on his whistle stop tour of Hobart, celebrating the The Queens Diamond Jubilee. Interested in promoting all things wool, in his role as the Ambassador for the Campaign for Wool, we we're invited to present our Tasmanian Merino Wool products to him.
Although we've always thought of ourselves as Republicans, without spending much time thinking about our Royal Family, it was an offer too good to refuse.
It was a surreal and far from the usual grind kind of day for the team. Starting with a lovely long lunch with family and friends, sharing some gorgeous local Pooley Pinot Grigio, and off to our date. Ushered past the crowds lined up to see the Duke and Duchess of Cornwall, we and number of other local wool and natural fibre producers, The Lord and Lady Mayor, and a swarm of international media, all awaited the their arrival.
The appointed time came and went, HRH's were running late, the weather had turned foul, so we made small talk with those around us.
We chatted at length to lovely bloke, who introduced himself as Christopher, with a fine cultured English accent. Midst our chatting and high spirited and jovial banter, on being asked what his role was he said he was the Private Secretary to HRH Queen Elizabeth, representing her on the Royal Tour. Not until much later did one of the media pull us aside to ask if we knew who we were talking to? "Nup, not really, Chris....the Queens Secretary?". We were informed that Sir Christopher Geidt, is one of the most powerful Public Servants in the UK.
Of course we googled him later, I nearly fell off my chair. His bio is impressive, to say the least.
I wonder what he thought of our Aussie banter? I related to him that in the late 60's my sister was photographed with the Queen when she toured Tasmania, as a young girl giving HRH a small posy of flowers. How funny it was that today 40 years on we would be meeting Prince Charles for a photo opportunity too, and I thought I could mention to Prince Charles "my sister knows your Mum". A typical Tasmanian phrase where everyone knows everyone on our little island.
Then suddenly Prince Charles appeared, followed by the swarm lights, cameras, etc, there he was in front of us! He shook our hands, and I actually curtsied! We talked wool and socks, and then it was over. He was swallowed up by the crowd, and gone......but we have the photo's to prove it.