Sunday 13 July 2014

Clare Priory 2014

Just back from the lovely Clare Priory Craft Fair.  It was really weird weather.  I bought a sun hat especially for the occasion (I have lupus and don't do bright sunlight); then the forecast said it was going to be overcast and wet so I left the hat at home.  On the Saturday it was baking hot.  It rained on Sunday morning and then turned baking hot again in the afternoon.  So I am feeling a little worse for wear now.

But I did sell some creatures - a few bears, a crow, a rabbit - and lots of people came over to say hello and look at the bears, for which I'm very grateful!

It was probably a bit quieter than usual, but it always is a great fair.  The grounds are beautiful and the people are lovely.  I always share a gazebo with my mother, who face paints for St Helena Hospice, and she barely stopped throughout the weekend, despite the rain.

This year I tried having two tables.  I didn't feel I really had enough bears to fill the space though, and with the extra table, the gazebo seemed to shrink by a good couple of feet.  My mother got very self-conscious about impeding the bears and kept moving her table outside when the sun came out. Then in again when it started to rain.  Then out again.  Really the arrangement didn't work very well.  

I am uuumming and aahhing (first time round, spellcheck changed that to 'umping and aching') over whether to do it again next year.  I'm thinking I might give it a miss - although I'd still love to go along and support the face painter, and to see the rest of the craft fair!

My next fair this year is at Marks Hall Gardens in Coggleshall, on the 26th and 27th of July.  It looks like it will be another two-table display, so I get a second chance to make it work.

In the meantime, here are some of the few photos I took at Clare Priory…

The Priory itself.



Pat and Miriam (centre and right), from the Art & Craft Centre, who had the stall opposite me.


Our gazebo, with my mother face painting, and couple looking at the bears :-)


My mother, looking very happy, with some money in her hand (I think she had just sold a bear).


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