THE SUN HAS DEFINITELY GOT HIS HAT ON, BUT STILL NEEDS TO WEAR A WOOLLY JUMPER

Hello everyone

It's a beautiful sunny day here in Christmas Pie - how about where you are?  I hope you didn't have any problems from Katie?  She was in a pretty bad mood around here - internal doors were rattling, but as with all bad weather, our cats didn't move a whisker!  The bottom of our garden flooded, but it does that frequently - apart from wheelie bins falling over, everything stayed in place.

My most recent A Fair to Remember event was on 19 March; bitterly cold weather, an empty town centre and rugby on the television meant numbers were not as good as hoped for, but we kept on smiling and had a big pre-Easter warm welcome for our visitors.  Photographs of the beautiful work that was on sale can be found here on the A Fair to Remember Facebook page.  Our next event is on 7 May and many of the stallhodlers who took part in the March event will be there too as well as lots of lovely new makers/sellers.

Earlier this month we went to Gozo for a week - the weather wasn't great all of the time, but we did have a couple of days when the temperature hit 22c.  It was fairly quiet where we stayed (Xlendi), particularly in the evenings but as we had planned a lazy and loungey holiday, we didn't mind the peace and quiet.  We had a fantastic view from our balcony:

A gorgeous sunny day-time view

A lovely night-time sun-setting view

The local 'stray' cats wander in and out of the restaurant and are well fed.  This fellow, we named him George, jumped onto my lap and settled down for a long snooze.  The majority of cats we met had been tipped, neutered and returned, so there is clearly a good network of cat carers in Malta and Gozo.

I like Gozo very much and feel I could happily live there - a long way to travel back for my craft fairs though, so perhaps have to think about moving there some time in the future.

I went to the Squirrel in Hurtmore last week for lunch with a couple of friends (Lesley and Dawn), apparently it has just been re-decorated and it does look good - very country-cottage style.  Good food and a great host too.  After pottery on Thursday met up with another friend (Linda) in the Watts Gallery coffee shop - gorgeous cake: one was beetroot and pumpkin seeds.  Very tasty.

This month has been spent catching up with friends, work and the million and one other things that seem to keep falling off of my mental To-Do list.  My To-Do list is a bit like a revolving door, just keeps returning to me expecting to be moved.

It's back-to-work time, so have a good weekend everyone.  Sadly not a four-day one this time around, but another Bank Holiday is on its way.

Jill

SUN, SEA AND SEAFOOD - WHAT MORE COULD I ASK FOR

Hello everyone

Just back from a week in lovely Xlendi (pictured here) on the island of Gozo.  The temperature was around 30 degrees all week and it was a good excuse to relax, read lots and get a nice sun tan.

We stayed in the San Andrea Hotel which is 2 seconds (well possibly 3) from the sea and I really recommend this hotel for its location, friendly staff and great restaurant (the Zafira).  Despite on two nights having over one hundred guests in the inside part of the restaurant for events, the staff still maintained their usual excellent service for all diners.  This was the view from our hotel:

There are lots of beautiful bays on Gozo, which is a very popular island for divers.  Every morning during breakfast, we would watch the divers from a local school go off for their morning dive.  I used to think 'no way could I get into those suits in this heat'.  On their return they looked as though they thoroughly enjoyed themselves and came back the next day for another session.

There are many beautiful churches on Gozo and this is one that we photographed because of the spectacular paintings on the towers on either side of the building:

As well as being a cat fanatic, I am also a seafood/fish fanatic.  This holiday allowed me to indulge my fishy taste and every day was a fishy treat for me: lobster, prawns, seam bream, squid, octopus and many other delicious goodies.  The restaurants we visited were all in and around the Xlendi bay and throughout our stay they were visited by three lovely tabby cats - did we feed them?  Of course we did, how could we not.  Here is photograph of one of them:

You can see that he has one ear 'tipped'; this means he has been tipped, neutered and returned and is supported by the local SPCA.  Needless to say they are very friendly because they are hoping for food.  The restaurant staff are very tolerant of them and the majority of diners are too.

It's back to work now, although I did try to keep an eye on business communications while I was away.  My new venture, Village Vintage is up and running and I am recruiting stallholders, so if you are 'strictly vintage' and would like to take part in my vintage events, please do get in touch.  The Surrey Bazaar events are filling up nicely and I am planning to spend more time on my wedding stationery business.

I hope you all have a good week and I will be back again very soon with more Christmas Pie news.

Jill