WET, WINDY AND VERY MUDDY

Hi everyone

What a dreadful week weather-wise.  Thank goodness, we have not suffered any damage, although the tables and chairs and a few ornaments from one half of the garden now reside in the other half and the bottom of the garden is flooded.  We had a power cut late evening on Thursday evening and it didn't come back on until Friday morning.  However, it could have been worse and my sympathies go out to those people all over the UK who have suffered loss because of the weather.

I took part in the Prior's Field School Christmas Fair yesterday and it wasn't very busy for any of us, even the hand-made fudge stall didn't have many customers.  The weather kept everyone away and it wasn't helped by the fact that a lot of the parking was in a very muddy field (not something you want to leave your car in).  Stall-holders were asked to park there once they had unloaded and as you can imagine after several hours of torrential rain, it was a little difficult to move ourselves let alone our vehicles.  My mini-cards sold well and some of my more 'out of the ordinary' birthday cards were also very popular.  How can you gauge what customers will like as recent sales have shown that it is impossible to second-guess what will be popular.  One day a particular card is flavour of the month, next day who knows?

I forgot to take photographs of my stand - as usual, but I made some quick gift-tags, so have included photographs of them instead:

These were 'quick makes'; two of them were fabric fixed to card and I added ribbon; one is a red rose added to red and tartan ribbons and the other two are peel-offs with added flowers.  Everyone likes to buy gift tags, and these were popular.  Will they be next time?  Who knows.

We were given the opportunity to set up the evening prior to the event and this worked out very well.  It meant less of a stressful mad rush on the day and a later start than is usual.  I know that I was very lucky as I am only a few miles from the school, but about half of the stalls were set up during that hour on Friday evening and I think it made it less of a problem parking/unloading on the day - especially as it was tipping down. 

This week has been catching up on lots of things - those of you who read my mid-week blog will know that for most of the beginning of the week I was here, there and just about everywhere.  I haven't yet had a chance to answer the posts in my last Sunday's blog - something I try to do as often as possible.  I think this coming week will see me doubling up.

I am at Secretts on Tuesday and Wednesday of this week and also planning to be there on Saturday - Father Christmas is arriving, so I need to meet with him to hand over my present list (I wish!).  My brother and his wife are over from New York this week - our current weather seems like a gentle spring breeze and shower compared with their recent experiences.  It will be so good to see them.  

It's a busy week with lots planned and lots of work to complete, so I am off to make a dent in the long list (well, the one that is in my head).  

I hope you have a great week, don't forget to drop into Handmade Monday today and tomorrow and catch up with my fellow crafter's gorgeous work.  I will be back on Wednesday with a kitten-related post - we still have the gorgeous mad Millie and delightful Daisy; they are so lovely and very friendly.

Have fun

Jill