Saturday 28 November 2009

Leave of absence ..

There is a saying that one never forgets how to ride a bicycle.. I wonder if the same applies to writing a blog, as I seem to have forgotten how. Having neglected my own blog for some months, just nipping in to give a news flash and quickie update, I am now finding it a real struggle to put one word in front of the other. Where do I begin to pick up the threads..?
This year has been eventful in so many ways..and at times I feel as though I am being swept along on a rip tide of high waves.. and then to end up in the doldrums.spot the cat...Someone else keeping a low profile

It is a little premature maybe to start reminiscing about the year before it is out.. but with Christmas looming, one cannot forget that a new year is on the horizon. I will never cease to be amazed by how the years fly by, as if in the blink of an eye, and yet when I think of all that has happened this year.. I wonder how I have managed to cram it all in to 365 days.
So.. what have I been doing in my protracted absences.. well.. rather like those exercises at school that we were given each term..'What I did in my hols' .. I will attempt to thrill (read bore) you with the day to day minutiae of my life..
For all regular visitors to Cowboys & Custard.. you cannot escape the fact that we have just held our third Vintage & Handmade Fair.. a wonderful day.. planned for six months..over in a matter of hours... but leaving a good feeling that will carry me through to the next in May. Straight after the fair I managed to come down with a nasty cold virus that headed straight for my chest and has been sat there for the last 1o days. It has become a tradition for me to have a chesty cold in November, if I think back to years past, it always arrives in the run up to the festive season and is as traditional as Easter or Christmas.. the annual 'Hack' is up there with the rest.I have been honing the art of wrapping parcels in brown paper, tissue and string, as Milly & Dottie's Emporium has seen a steady flow of customers through the door, and I am fast wearing a path to the local post box to intercept our local postie at 5.00 p.m every evening, who obligingly takes all my parcels.. thus saving me a trek to stand in line with the good citizens of Bath, at the only surviving post office in town.
Today I ventured out to get some air.. having been incarcerated in a warm but hermetically sealed cave, since my lurgy struck. Mr Custard kindly took me on a drive to a local farm shop where my eyes grew as large as saucers at the sight of all the sparkly, sugary Christmas treats on display. There I bought my son and heir a delightful numbered selection of chocolate bars for his advent calendar and hid it in our ice-box.. otherwise known as the conservatory. I hope his chocolate radar will not sniff it out before the 1st of December.
Then on to a garden centre.. where I managed to scrape together 10 tulip bulbs from their remaining stock of bulbs. I have left it woefully late to start my Spring garden planting plans..in fact I haven't set foot in our garden for weeks.. work, weather and now cold have conspired to keep me from giving my plot a good nip and tuck! I am not sure what I will discover when I finally venture out to the bottom of our garden. We had several visitations of badgers during October, evident by their unmistakable calling cards... i.e Badger latrines. I am wondering what other beasties might be lurking in the darker corners. I feel very privileged to have these fine creatures in our neighbourhood... even if they do use our garden a their privie. I only wish I could catch sight of them.. especially as they loved to dig up our neighbours carefully manicured lawn and each morning after their visits.. I would see the neighbour at dawn.. rush out in nightie and all.. to repair the damage.
This week.. I joined some other designers at Lasso the Moon.. and took up residence alongside another of our blogging comrades.. Nicky from Vintage Magpie.. and her amazing menagerie of beautifully crafted animals. I am really thrilled to be part of this collection of designers and hope that this new string on my bow.. will play all the right tunes!The other night I thought there was a siege going on in the city below us.. loudspeakers could be heard, a helicopter hovered voyeuristically overhead.. and a male voice could be heard booming out a message to a cheering crowd. Was this the locals uprising against the shocking business rates in Bath..no.. it was one of my, secret, or not so.. heartthrobs.. Mr Nicholas Cage.. switching on the Christmas lights to a crowd of starstruck shoppers..and sightseers. I would have been there myself, elbowing my way to the front with stars in my eyes.. had it not been for the fact that it was cold outside and my stomach was more intent on eating supper. Sorry Mr Cage.. I hope I will have the pleasure of bumping in to you one day in Waitrose .. but please warn me if you are popping out for groceries, so I can put my lippy on first.

So.. dear blog friends.. you can see that life is ticking along nicely.. peppered with some spicy moments here and there... but never, ever dull.

Sunday 15 November 2009

All is calm... all is bright!

Hardly seems possible that six months of planning and waiting since the last Vintage & Handmade Fair in May, has been and gone in the blink of an eye... or so it feels.
Much has already been said about yesterday's event .. from the fabulous folk who braved the elements and queued in the rain patiently for our doors to open. The dedicated and professional stall holders, bloggers, friends and family..
I had a whale of a time.. meeting up with our ladies.. who travelled from all corners of the country to bring their finest wares to the fair.. and make it something special.. and certainly a day that many remember for all kinds of reasons.. but..mainly.. for the warmth and feel good factor that bind our team together.
Gratitude to all who made it a date that is etched in my diary as one very hard to beat.

Photos courtesy of Sal's camera.. Guess who forgot hers again!

To see the day from start to finish.. in glorious technicolour.. please visit our webpage at Vintage & Handmade Fair Mr Country Cottage Chic.. took some great shots .. Every picture tells a story.
The countdown to the next fair on May 1st 2010.. has already begun !

Friday 13 November 2009

Fair Weather Friends...

click on photo to enlarge
Ironing board and iron are not included in sale


This time tomorrow I will be in a state of flux.. the doors to the hall will be opened for all the stallholders at the Vintage & Handmade Fair, to flood in to the hall to set up their stalls. Flood is a word I am using with caution as the weather report is not good..but us Brits are made of stern stuff and Jayne and I hope that you will don your galoshes and souwesters, inflate your life rafts, to make your way to the third Vintage & Handmade Fair in Chipping Sodbury, south Gloucestershire.
It promises to be our biggest and hopefully our best.. and whatever the weather.. all will be welcomed with open arms and a cup of tea and finest homemade cake...
Can't wait to see old friends and meet new friends and share some wonderful camaraderie amongst our beautiful blogging folk..
Hope to see you there..