West End Update

Sorry no photos today. I meant to take the camera yesterday but forgot.
So that's the first week behind us.
As usual for Scotland there's been a healthy mixture of sunshine and showers ( well downpours really). But believe it or not less rain than the same week last year.
In general the visitor numbers are up I think and that has been reflected in the sales over the week.
It has been quite a struggle to keep up with the stock levels but we've got it down to a fine art, Bob and I.
He's in Edinburgh selling and I'm at home making. I anticipate what he might be selling and make cards like fury during the day, and he phones late afternoon to tell me what he's sold - and usually I've anticipated wrongly! So then I start to make more.
I went over to the fair yesterday for the weekly check and tidy up ( men are no use at that sort of thing) and to let Bob have an escape for a walk. I had another mooch around the stands ( wish I'd remembered the camera) and treated myself to a necklace from Fiona Luing. There are lots of jewellery stalls to choose from but I really liked the contemporary blown glass beads.
I need to peel myself away from the computer now and get on with some work, but Laura (daughter) and Greg ( son in law) have just arrived in Quito in Ecuador on the first leg of their round the world trip and we've been chatting, thanks to Twitter.
Photos of more stands next week. There really are so many amazing crafts on display.

West End Fair Day One

Here we are. Seven thirty yesterday morning. Arrived and unloaded and ready to start setting up the stand. This is our little shop in the centre of Edinburgh for the next three weeks. It doesn't look much when it's empty....
But by 11am it was set up and open for business.
It's quite amazing how much stuff can be displayed in a little wooden chalet.
The stock level is good at the moment but it's a major job to keep it going. I've got a pile to do today.
Last shot of our stand before we go on a mini tour of the fair.
The fair is set in an old graveyard behind St John's Church and is below street level hence the aerial views.
It's a lovely leafy space, a peaceful oasis from the Festival madness of Princes Street.
There are marquees as well as the wooden chalets and all FREE admission.
This is one of the many and varied jewellery stands.
And a close up of the beautiful ceramic jewellery created by my friend Margaret McDonald and..
her husband John's paintings. This is a new venture for him.
Another well known business at this event, Fern Glass with their hanging glass ornaments and ever popular glass fairies.
Finally a shot from street level showing the entrance to the fair with the amazing backdrop of Edinburgh Castle.
I'm hoping for three weeks of sunny weather - not TOO much to ask is it - the atmosphere is so good when the sun shines.
Well, time marches on - I must get back to work.
Come and see us if you are in Edinburgh.

All Packed Up And Ready To Go

What a day. Always the same the day before a big Craft Fair.
We've rushed around making up last minute stock - always last minute - before the big pack up/load up tonight.
We've filled two floor spinners full of cards, that's 432 cards on each one, and eight plastic crates of pictures, other cards, plaques and assorted pretty things.
Then there was the checklist of sundries:-
Lighting, cloths and drapes, shelving, screens, cash float, paper bags, visa machine, catalogues, pens, staple gun, hammer and nails, comfy chair ( VERY important to avoid a sore bottom after 3 weeks of sitting behind the stand) and so on and on.
Bob loads up the van with the heavy stuff first and then keeps sensibly out of my way while I faff around collecting every last miniscule thing to take with us.
Packing has become an art form over the years and I have a sort of routine in order to make sure nothing important gets forgotten.
As you can see there's not much room left in the back of the van - just enough for the packed lunch and flask of coffee tomorrow.

Doors finally closed, a mental check in case I've missed something and then an early night. We have to be up at 5.30 tomorrow morning to get through to Edinburgh and unloaded before the traffic restrictions start. Bit of a nightmare.
Anyway it's done.
Except THIS is what the storeroom looks like after I've ransacked it while packing. And pretty much the whole house and workshop looks like they've been raided.
But that's a job for Sunday.
My Craft Fair presence is tomorrow only to oversee the setting up. Then I'm at home working on stock while Bob is in the comfy seat behind the stall each day.
Sunday I'll whizz around and tidy everything up and restore some order ready to open the workshop as usual on Tuesday.
So August will fly by at the West End Fair, and when we raise our heads again it will be September and summer will be nearly over. Roll on Christmas -aghhh.
PS I'm taking the camera with me tomorrow, so watch this space for a visual trip around the Fair.

Homecoming Birthday

Two celebrations in one week is possibly being a bit greedy, but just three days after our 33rd anniversary comes my (ahem)th birthday.
This year it landed on Sunday, our day off. And as Monday is our day off too, we had a very brief holiday and went down to Ayr for a night.
A bit of a Homecoming (more later) for me as I was born in the Maternity Hospital in Ayr all those years ago.
I had a notion that I wanted to see the sunset over Arran ( possibly my most favourite view) but it wasn't a sunset sort of evening.
The picture above, courtesy of here shows what I was looking for.
We also had a good walk around Culzean Country Park, another favourite place of mine - Culzean Castle above - I spent a week at the park when I was a student on a group sketching/study trip and have loved it ever since.
This morning we had a touristy visit to Alloway, to see Burns' Cottage and the Auld Brig o' Doon.
It's a place I've been to often but I must say I was impressed with the general turn out of the village this time. It's maybe because of the 250th anniversary of Burns and the year of homecoming etc, but everywhere you looked there were flowers, neatly clipped hedges and very tidy paths and gardens. Then again it's maybe always as nice as this.
I'd say it's a real credit to Scottish tourism and couldn't fail to impress foreign visitors.
This is the Auld brig, featured in Tam O' Shanter. If you don't know the poem it can be found here.
Right across the road from Burns' Cottage is this lovely tidy Post Office, full of interesting bites to eat, gifts and... a display of our cards! What more could the visitor possibly want!
We took a long and very winding road home to road test our new car, and ended up at South Queensferry for a late lunch. From our table at the Hawes Inn there is a good view of the Forth Rail Bridge.
Finally the Year of Homecoming Scotland is 2009 and we are doing brisk business with our homecoming cards. Needless to say Alloway Post Office is a good customer.

It Was 33 Years Ago Today

What were you doing 33 years ago today? Well some of you may not have even been born, but I was 22 and in the process of tying the knot with my 25 year old ( and hairy) boyfriend.
So all these years down the line here we are, still Mr and Mrs and business partners too. One of us deserves a medal but it would cause an argument to decide who!
Now why have I stuck on an embarrassing 1970's wedding photo?
Well the story is this...
Not wanting to be a conventional bride ( I was an art student, and poor) I chose a blue patterned Laura Ashley dress costing all of £9.99.
It had a very full long skirt so there were yards and yards of material there.
I was very much into patchwork and quilting so after a decent interval of a couple of weeks after the wedding - we went to Arran for our honeymoon - I started hacking up the dress for a quilt I was making. The quilt's still around but I don't have a photo as it's now my daughter's.
Anyway six years after the wedding, here is Laura aged two in her first party dress and yes, it's the wedding dress. Even the sleeves were just adapted from my sleeves.
I remember it was a pretty complicated pattern to follow with the square yoke, but I was really pleased with the result.
Over the years what was left of the dress became a bedroom lampshade, part of a patchwork quilt for my son's cot and has appeared in many many patchwork cards.
When Laura got married three years ago, she had a lovely ivory dress, but unknown to her at the time, walked down the aisle with two tiny hearts made out of my dress appliqued inside the hem - something old and something blue.
The fabric seemed to go on and on.
Until now.
Just recently I was rummaging in a box of fabric offcuts to make some baby boy cards, blue of course, and came across this scrap. All that's left of my wedding dress.
Barbara refused to let me use it for cards and said I should make myself a keepsake - a padded heart or some such.
And I will, some day.
So we're off out for a meal to celebrate/commiserate our 33 years together and here's to the next 33.

Laburnum RIP

This view of our garden is now changed forever. Our favourite laburnum tree was chopped down yesterday - the poor thing had died and this display of blossom was probably going to be its last.
It was a sad day because it had brightened up our mornings for all the years we've stayed here, at least in early summer anyway.
The sunny yellow lit up our bedroom even if it was a dull day and it was always buzzing with honey bees.
And like all the irises in the garden, it burst into flower every year precisely on Laura's birthday -June 6th.
In winter it also brightened things up because it was draped with twinkly fairy lights, and it served a useful purpose too as one end of my washing line.
It's still going to be useful though, as we now have a good pile of logs to burn on cold nights.
I don't think we'll have another one as the other trees in the garden are taking over, so I'm just enjoying the bigger patch of sky that can be seen from the recliner now - well when it's not raining.