Aviemore Trade Show

That's it over for another year. Our annual trip with the trailer tent up to Aviemore in the Cairngorm Highlands for the Scottish Trade Show.
We always stay at the Glen More campsite on the shores of Loch Morlich. This was last year's image. Just beautiful and so peaceful.

We didn't have quite such a colourful sunset this year, but beautiful in its own right.

And this was the view from our trailer tent. Wonderful to wake up to.

As for the Trade Show itself, well it was quiet. It was pretty much as expected I suppose. It has never been a very busy show for one reason or another, but I did meet some new potential customers and took some orders which probably made it worthwhile.
However, socially it was great success. Bob took himself off up the hills as usual, and I spent three days in the hall chatting and gossiping. I don't mind that at all.
We  had very sociable evenings too, thanks to Sacha and Hayden , friends and fellow exhibitors who were staying at the campsite as well. Red wine, crisps, Ben and Jerry's ice cream and lots of laughs. We sat at the lochside till the wee small hours much to the annoyance of a pair of courting ducks.
It was home again yesterday, and a text from Laura to say they had landed back at Heathrow, safe and sound after their world adventure.

This was their last port of call - Shanghai.

We're looking forward to seeing them soon, maybe in a couple of days with a bit of luck. I think Greg has about 50,000 photos to show us!

Well, back to work, I suppose.

Proud Mum

Mums are allowed to be proud aren't they? This is Nick, our 26 year old little boy ( the big one in the photo - the little one is his cousin John).
Nick has just phoned from a posh hotel in Glasgow to tell us that he has won an award. (Drum roll) He has been awarded Multi Media Journalist of the Year at the Scottish Press Awards.
He is a journalist at http://www.scotsman.com/ but is also a music journalist and writes for the Scotsman's online music section The Radar.
Not bad for a wee boy who's teacher in P2 thought he needed remedial help in English, and who went on to get a First Class Honours Degree in English from Edinburgh University.
It is OK to be bursting with pride for your son, isn't it!
Mind you, he's a lazy big lump who torments the life out of our long suffering cat, who comes home for the weekend and  hogs the computer, who only reluctantly dries the dishes and who hardly ever changes his sheets!
We love ya, Nick. Well done!

Where Has The Time Gone?

This past week has been quite odd in some ways. There was a slight concern at the start of the week about Laura and Greg in China when we heard about the earthquake in Yushu county. We knew that they were travelling to Tibet, but didn't know where exactly, or when. And there was no way of contacting them.
Anyway, we got a call from them on Friday - they had been only an hour away from  the epicentre of the 'quake, but on the day before it struck. They're doing a tour of the country at the moment and really enjoying it. Unfortunately the Chinese authorities are a bit suspicious of bloggers, so Laura hasn't been able to update their blog since Hong Kong.
They'll be home a week on Tuesday, or should be. Who knows when this volcanic ash will disperse? They could well be held up, like so many other people.
What else has made the week odd? What a memory - I start to type a post, and halfway through I've forgotten what I was going to say - senior moment.
Well of course, the eruption in Iceland has been a bit of a surprise. Empty skies are actually quite nice, unless you were trying to get somewhere abroad, or home. Just shows you that Nature can outwit Man every time.
In the Embroidery Workshop, we've been resting on our laurels somewhat. Just jogging along making up orders and building stocks. This is usually a quiet time of the year, and instead of working at our usual pace, we sort of slow down. There is time for other things, and we have both been doing stuff for ourselves. Bob's been working on a new drawing, and I've been doing a bit of embroidery.
I'd like to keep this going if I can, even when we get really busy again, because I think it may well have a positive effect on the business. I could see new designs for the cards and pictures coming out of this.
We'll have to get ourselves in gear though, because the Aviemore Trade Show comes round again next week ( so soon?!).
We should have had all our new Christmas designs ready for that - mmm, some maybe.
So this coming week will be back to our usual panic stations.

Cupcakes at last

It was time to restock our card spinner at the Farm Shop today. We do this every week if possible, to keep the display fresh, and today we had to replace Easter cards which were left over.

That meant some new designs, and one of them was this selection of cupcakes. (I think I've mentioned to  one or two people that I intended to steer clear of cupcake designs because the market seems to be flooded with them. But we had a request from a customer, so I gave in.)

They are fun to make as I could go on for ever making up different colour schemes.

Anyway, hopefully once the visitors to the coffee shop have had their coffee and cake they will be prompted to buy a card to match!

Wordless Wednesday

It's Spring at last. Morning walk - sunshine, warmth, flowers and wet feet!

Lanterns For sale

I just love this photo. Lanterns for sale in Hoi Ann, Vietnam.

Taken from Laura's blog (that's our daughter)

She and Greg are off to China tomorrow for a tour which includes Tibet, and they'll be home at the end of May! They've been travelling since last August and have visited Chile, Bolivia, Peru, Easter Island, New Zealand, Australia, Malaysia, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Hong Kong and now China. Have I missed any out Laura?

Looking forward to welcoming them home.