Beginning of Summer - Thame Country Fair
It's the most exciting time of the year; after months of the cold and dark winter, being locked up and waiting, my first event of the summer season has finally arrived. It was the Thame Country Fair over the Easter weekend. I cleaned out my van, ran around the house 100 times trying not to forget anything and drove two and a half hours to Thame, just outside of Oxford.
Setting up - Catching up with friends
This is my third year of events, so I know so many of the other traders. We are like one big family. It's so lovely to catch up and discover what everyone has been up to. I missed this so much during winter.
Set up day was typical ME, just trying to remember how to set up my stall, clean things that had been sitting in storage all winter and make long lists of everything I had forgotten, which was an endless list of "Opps forgot that". In fact, there was a chorus of "Oh No's!!!" going around the marque as other traders realised that they had forgotten stuff also. It's been months for many of us.
In the evening I went for a walk around the showground when I went to take some photos I realized I had lost my phone, after searching in the growing dark for ages, I asked the security if they had one handed in. The site security were really helpful and well resourced. So, of course, they decided this would be an excellent excuse to get the sniffer dogs on it. I had to hold a tissue so the dogs could get my sent. I felt horrified that this had happened, things like this always seem to happen to me. I cause so much drama no matter where I go. Luckily, I found the phone before the dogs.
I have lots of new rings this year, so I had to make room for some new display pieces. I have placed two sets of shelves on either side of my stall. This won't be their final placement, ill chop and change stuff around throughout the year.
Day 1: The sun has got his hat on.
The first day was so good. The sun came out, the weather warmed up, and everyone was so happy and excited to be out. I sold many of the new rings, which I am super excited about. It's pretty comforting when people like and compliment them and actually buy them. When I make something new, I never really know how it will go down.
Day 2 - The showground turned into a mud bath.
The second day the weather took a turn for the worst; wellies on, I just got on with it. I was up early, setting up and rearranging my stall. Heavy rain kept many people away in the morning. This was followed by a strong cold wind, which drove a lot of the stalls and trade stands to pack up early. The craft tent lasted the longest, we are a hardy lot. The dog show also continued to the end; dogs mind less about the weather than us humans.
