Everything has changed but a lot has stayed the same.

Its been 3 years since I last visited the old blog.

In the days of Instagram, FB and tweeting, where we get small bite size pieces of information to digest, the idea of reading or writing whole blog posts seems to have become a thing of the past.

I do miss sitting down with a cup of tea and formulating thoughts on paper or screen in this case.

It's almost a cathartic dear diary experience of sorting the thoughts out in your head and writing them down legibly enough for others to understand and hopefully enjoy reading.

So much has happened in the last 3 years.

A lot has changed, but a lot has stayed the same.

Finki is still my main jam and if I go a day or two without getting to sew or be creative I get all sorts of grumpy and not nice to be around. Its the air that I breathe, this creative life of mine.

Hubby and my daughter have joined team Finki and its become more a family business which I love.

After 10 years trading at 159 Sydney rd, we finally had to accept that the rent increases were killing our spirit and bank account, so we moved shop location.

Our new shop is in Northcote, 48a Arthurton rd.

Opposite a train station and walking distance from trams and buses.

Sort of central, but also sort of tucked away from the main high street, which I like.

After the busyness of being on such an inner city main road in Brunswick, our new shop is quite peaceful.

Its been quite a disruptive start to the year, with bush fires, moving house and shop and now amidst a global pandemic that forced us to close our doors.

Despite such upheaval, uncertainty and mayhem, we're ok.

We have a roof over our heads, food on our table and news today is that from May 31st the restrictions will be lifted so that we can shop, dine and enjoy time with our family and friends again after 2 months of isolation.

Its a new normal we're told, where we still have to social distance and wash hands and stay safe. But its a new normal that we look forward to, just to get back into doing what we love and seeing those we love.

Despite it feeling like an unlucky time I actually can't help but feel lucky.

Lucky to have my health, lucky to have my family, lucky that the government has offered help to small business so we could get through this ok.

I was very fearful when this all began, that it would be the end of Finki, but we've had nothing but overwhelming support from our community that has kept us going.

I feel very lucky indeed.

As it stands, we have my son home with remote learning until June 9th, so I think until hes back at school we won't have the hours at the shop back up to full trading.

But we are open Monday to Saturday:11-4 for people who need us.

Over the last 2 months we put all our energy into filling up our online shop with all our beautiful products, we introduced pick up and local delivery options and we streamlined our delivery process to make it easier for our customers to shop with us.

Had we not had the last 2 months away from the shop to focus on these things, I think we may never had found the time. Silver linings... always gotta look for the silver lings hey!

Hope you've all been ok and if there is ever anything you need, drop me a line.

Jay. xx