2010 - In Pictures

With the end of the year almost here, here is a quick look back to the last twelve months before we plunge into 2011.

January brought the first Trade Fair of the year at the SECC in Glasgow, where we tried out our new display racks for the cards.

February we took a long Valentine's weekend in London and visited as many museums and art galleries as we could, as well as seeing Eric Clapton and Jeff Beck at the O2.

March was just a heads down and work sort of month, but April brought news that our son, Nick had been nominated and won Multi Media Journalist of the Year at the Scottish Press Awards. Go Nicky!!!
And also in April, we welcomed home our daughter Laura and husband Greg after their year long world trip.

We headed off again in MAY, this time to Stornoway and the Outer Hebrides for a few days. The weather was chilly but gloriously sunny, and the beaches were vast, windswept, breathtakingly beautiful and empty.

JUNE saw the start of the Craft Fair season with Gardening Scotland at the start of the month and the Royal Highland Show at the end. So it was work work work again and in JULY too, in preparation for.......

the annual Edinburgh Festival Fringe Craft & Design Fair. So that was the whole of August taken care of.

It was a bittersweet start to September when we decided to close our little craft shop and turn it into a stockroom. It was a big decision to make, since it had been open for 18 years, but we really needed the space to convert to storage and give us a house back. As well as that, the focus of the business has changed over the past few years with the majority of our customers now being either trade or website/mail order.

But I know some of our local customers of long standing will never forgive us!

However, we left it all behind at the end of September and embarked on a special holiday, starting in San Francisco,

before moving on to Las Vegas and

the Grand Canyon

and finishing up in Los Angeles.

Of course the last four months of our working year are always the busiest, and as soon as we got home from our holiday we were immersed in orders for Christmas cards. OCTOBER and NOVEMBER passed in a blur of 17 hour working days and busy Craft Fairs - Country Living Christmas Fair was just one.

But we mananged to take a weekend off mid November to celebrate a special birthday for Bob by surprising him with a Ferrari driving experience at Knockhill Racing Circuit.

While he was speeding round the track ( his instructor asked him to please keep both hands on the wheel!) Laura and I froze in the starter's box

and Nick was doing his Murray Walker impression.

We all know by now what December brought, and I think there have been enough snow photos already, but just before the snow came at the end of November we had some stunning fiery sunsets

And so we arrived at Christmas once again. The whole family made it through the snow and we have had a houseful in different permutations of people every day since the 23rd. Today (30th) they are all in Edinburgh shopping and having a meal (just the young ones) so Bob and I are once more just the two of us. Peaceful for an hour or two.
Laura and Greg will be back later this evening, and are staying to see in the New Year with us. Nick will be home again on the 2nd to go to the footie with his Dad....and then next week it's all back to normal. The diet will resume and the wheels of the business will crank up again in time for 2011's January Trade Fair.
It's been a good year, very family orientated and we are all well and thriving. I hope it has been for you too, and next year will be even better.
Happy Hogmanay when it comes! (I'll try to get a pic of Bob in his kilt playing the accordion at the bells!!! Quite a sight! But no sound, I promise - I'll let you off that one!)