Akubra - It's Australian for "Hat"

Theme Thursday again and a double whammy with "Felt" and "Impression" as the theme. I'm struggling with a dicky keyboard because my nice sleek Apple job has decided that "Y" needs a holiday!

Most people probably consider felt as a type of cloth - smoother and tougher than cotton or woollen fabric, but cloth nonetheless. But really there is little similarity. Unlike cloth, felt is made up of many short, single animal fibres. These fibres interlock; they have a natural tendency to "crawl" and twist when kneaded and manipulated in hot water and steam. Pressure, heat and water are used throughout the felt making process.

Here in Australia there is one famous felt hat. Greg Norman is frequently seen coming in under par in one, farmers wouldn't think of hitting the midday sun without one. . . hell even my son wears one when he's mowing the lawn. Yep, you have to have an Akubra.

Although preferred in country areas, everyone here understands the charm and sheer Aussiness of a genuine rabbit felt Akubra hat. And before you start throwing fake blood at us . . rabbits are a feral pest here. Millions of them cause havoc in semi rural and rural areas. Cute as they are, we aim for them when driving down the road and Lily doesn't mind a bit of road kill for breakfast. I have rabbits under the shed, in the paddock, on the road, in the hedgerows . .they're everywhere. It's not their fault but they are as damaging as any other pest and continue to make a very negative impression on our landscape. And remember, I live in the burbs . . I still find them on the lawn in the morning and literally grazing just outside the carport at dusk.

So when you visit, among your Taiwanese Koalas, non indigenous boomerangs, tacky imported T shirts and fake flags, take home a real Australian . . an Akubra Hat! You'll be sure to make an impression. It's so Aussie . . .we don't even add the word 'hat' you just put on your Akubra.

Now go and visit the others who don't have to bang the shit out of their keyboards to make an impression. My fingers have really felt the pain!