A FOGGY DAY IN CHRISTMAS PIE

Hello everyone

It's a little bit foggy here, but still very mild.  Many of the trees around here still have all of their leaves, although they have changed to beautiful golds and reds.  The colours at this time of year are so gorgeous and almost a pity that they signal the real end of summer for the year, but there is always spring to look forward to and we have planted some more bulbs this year.  Every year I tell myself to photograph the places I have planted bulbs, so that I know where to put new ones - every year I forget.

I took part in the Woking Cats Protection Christmas Fayre on Saturday and it was great to meet up with the branch's team members as well as fellow stallholders (some I have met before and new ones as well).  The event was a great success for CP and I was a very pleased stallholder as my bags were popular and sold well.  The favourites always seem to be the ones decorated with butterflies and I sold out of those, so it's back to making more for the next few events I am taking part in, but the quirky new design ones were popular too.

In addition to selling my bags at the events I organise, I will be taking part, with my Christmas Pie Crafts hat on, in the two-day Christmas Market at the Medicine Garden on 26 and 27 November.  Making will be 24-hours a day form now until then as also need to make new wreaths and Christmas scented candles.  Looking forward to this event as I really do prefer to do two or three day ones - I think it is being able to walk away on day one (often the most tiring because of setting up, etc) without having to pack-up.

My sister and I had a return visit to Prawn on the Lawn in Islington on Friday.  This is a 'to die for' fish and seafood restaurant that at first glance you think it is just a fishmongers.  They have an excellent menu and wine list and it's a great way dine away a couple of hours at lunch time. Their homemade Taramasolata is soooooo good we bought some to take home with us (as well as some jumbo prawns and truffle oil).  Already planning our next trip.

Back to candle-making, wreath-producing and bag-decorating but I will be back next week with details about the 5 November A Fair to Remember event in the Wilfrid Noyce Centre and how it went.  Have a great week everyone.

Jill

WHERE OH WHERE HAD MY BLOG GONE?

Hello everyone

My blog disappeared!  I have spent many weeks trying to locate it, on my own, with the help of Blogger/Google and have been tempted many times to throw my computer out of the window - I am sure many of you understand this feeling?  However, I am the first to admit that computers are not to blame, it is we humans who do most of the damage.  It turned out to be a different email address I had opened and for some crazy reason had used it to access my blog - er, why?  I really don't know, but I am so pleased that I have now solved the problem and can access my old blog posts.  I know the authors hoping to win next year's Booker Prize have nothing to worry about, but not being able to access the blog meant I could not update any information about events, layout, etc.  You can probably hear the sigh of relief and feel the warmth from my very red face.  I am now one happy blogger.

Since my last blog post, which must have been, oh years and years ago, I have had an event at a new venue: the Wilfrid Noyce Centre (WNC) in Godalming.  A lovely venue that was refurbished earlier this year and now has two great halls; the main one has lots of light and plenty of room.  It has a very smart brand new kitchen, which makes setting up our pop-up cafe very easy.  We have a great caretaker who helps us set up and pack away - what more could we ask for in a venue?

Our next event in the WNC is on 5 November.  I have been trying to arrange a Best Guy competition to take place during the event, but the response has been disappointing.  I put a couple of posts out asking for local Godalming businesses to support the event, but sadly, nothing.  My plan is for it to be on a quid pro quo basis of mutual benefit to everyone involved, so Godalming businesses if you are interested please do get in touch.  Just a small gift, promotion for the event and plenty of advertising from me both before and after the event.

In addition to new venues, it has been a very sad time here in Christmas Pie.  One of our neighbours, who would have celebrated her 101st birthday next month, died last week.  This was closely followed by the loss of a distant family member and as we were thinking that unhappy events tends to go in threes, we received the very sad news that a favourite uncle passed away on Friday.

This time of year is always busy for me, both on the organising of events side as well as the taking part in events side.  On Saturday, 29 October I am taking part in the Woking Cats Protection Christmas Fayre in the New Haw Community Centre, Woodham Lane, Addlestone, KT15 3ND.  If you are free on that day, why not come along and buy some of the goodies there will be for sale in support of our kittens and cats.  There will be lots of lovely stalls selling gorgeous things, a chocolate tombola and I understand there will be bacon sandwiches.

Have a great week everyone - I will definitely be back next week because I now know how to get into my blog.

Jill