Monday, December 2, 2013

Creative Christmas Craft Fayre.

Although the temperature outside denies the coming of Christmas, this is the season of craft fairs, some are disappointing, like the one we went to a couple of weeks ago, little in the way of home spun crafts, plenty of imported stuff and only four genuine craft workers, but some of these fairs are excellent. Yesterday we went to the Christmas fair in Manorhamilton, Co Leitrim. Although no longer local to us we opted for this fair as we know several of the people who were exhibiting. Had we been looking for Christmas presents we would have been spoilt for choice,
Lovely Pottery.
everything from local pottery
Bluebell Organic farm.
to a full range of  Organic Christmas foods, this stall I'm pleased to say belonged to an old friend of ours who used to use our packing station for her Organic Eggs, she now has her own packing centre and a fully certified Organic Processing licence for her baked goods. She has an excellent web site.
www.bluebellorganicfarm.com
Our friends Bridget and Andy also had a stand,
home made cakes, jams and preserves plus Andy's glass paintings, Andy and I seem to be in competition for finding nice pieces of glass ware in the local charity shops, I think maybe Andy has the advantage as Bridget helps out in one of them!  Bridget also has a lovely blog. It can be found here.
www.fromacountrycottage.wordpress.com
Next to Bridget was June and Thomas from;
www.celticmooncraft.com
June paints lovely wooden plaques with Celtic designs, Thomas makes lovely glass pendants, I couldn't resist buying one, my Xmas present to me.
In all there were forty four stands with a further ten people who would have liked a place but it had already been booked to capacity.
It was a most enjoyable afternoon, there was a real energy there, this is an energy we always feel when we visit this area.
We were also able to make arrangements to pick up our wholefood order this Thursday, people we already knew from the farmers market but had not realised that this was who our order had been placed through. They also sell lovely honey so we treated ourselves as we are now on our last pot of Honey from Galicia.
Very interesting  woodworking.
We got talking to a very interesting carpenter, who it turns out gets his wood from Danny Smith, a big bear of a man from Florence Court in Co. Fermanagh, it was Danny who supplied us with all our wood years ago when we built our straw bale house. We have been promising ourselves a trip to see him, this week we will as Simon has several ideas for wood craft and we can think of no better person to give us what we need.
Poppies in Dec!
Winter is a long time coming, I just hope that when it does come it doesn't stay too long. There are already buds on the Sycamore trees. Poppies
and Borage
and borage are still blooming,
It's not spring yet, we have to have winter.
a friend has Muscari out in bloom, all very strange.
Work continues with tree planting, one day we will have finished, already it is time to plan and order next years seeds, where did this year go?
Inspired by Clarice Cliff.
Our outside light being revamped.
Something to store our Spaghetti in.
I am continuing with my glass painting, I think this might be habit forming,
as well as baking to keep Simons love of sticky buns fulfilled.
 We always seem to be busy.
The Jerusalem Artichokes have done very well this year with an average weight of 4oz each, they are a very versatile veg,
last week we did them as chips to go with cold ham, delicious, they were light and fluffy. They are also great in stir fries and give a nutty flavour to the dish, also roasting them or adding to stews, I'm glad we have such a good crop, they are best left in the ground until you need them as they do go soft very quickly so don't store well.
We are still getting the most beautiful sunsets, always nice to see especially if they are predicting more dry weather.



8 comments:

  1. Did'nt see you taking that sneaky pic of moi! Glad you enjoyed the fair...we did too. Met people we had'nt seen in ages. Your new glass projects are lovely...I especially like the outside light and of course the Clarice Cliff design...lovely. Really must get some Arthichokes.

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  2. It was a most enjoyable day and everyone chatted about their crafts, it was nice to put faces to names as well.

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  3. Hi Anne - It was great to see you and Simon there on Sunday, as well as Bridget and Andy, Reiner and Doris, and Ellie and Brian from Trimilawn Farm Herbs and Spices

    And thank you very much for liking (and buying) the pendant. It's one of my two favourites - I love that stained glass effect, and obviously, you do too. I love your designs. There's something not only beautiful but quite magical about stained glass. I agree with Bridget about your beautiful outdoor lantern with the Clarice Cliff motif - beautiful, vivid colours. Show us more of your craft projects. I think you should set up a stall at one of the markets next year, as well as the Christmas markets and fairs next year,. I think you'd do quite well. There's something special about buying something that is hand made and hand crafted.

    I agree with you about Manorhamilton - it's got such a warm and friendly and genuinely welcoming vibe and energy about it. I cannot thank Bridget and Reiner enough for encouraging me to book a table there this year - it was a very enjoyable day. And I even won one of the raffle prizes! :)

    I'm only new to your blog, and am looking forward to visiting often. Maybe when I next come to Boyle (to find that hidden little path/park area that Bridget found) you, me and Bridget can meet up and have lunch or a cuppa and enjoy the day.

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    1. Many thanks for your kind comments on the glass painting, if you go back on my blog to the end of Oct beginning of Nov there are more photos of windows I have done for the straw bale building we are doing. I love the pendent, I seldom wear jewellery but this I have worn everyday since buying it. We are thinking about the craft fairs next year, Simon has got into wood work so that might be an idea, I used to make lovely rag dolls which used to sell very well, I might do that again, then of course there is Xmas puddings, made to a traditional recipe that we used to make for shops here a few years back. Lots of ideas! It would be great if the three of us could meet up for lunch sometime or even coffee.

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  4. Sounds like a good Christmas Market you managed there. We were a little disappointed by the one we went to (no names no pack drill - you know anyway). Good stalls with good stuff for sale but the venue didn't seem to have tried very hard to lay on useful facilities. Toilets were indicated by rough felt pen on A4 paper signs, there were no Christmas trees or decs except for three or four baubles hanging in the foyer, the Father Christmas 'grotto' was a tiny pathetic affair lost in one corner. Sign posting to the venue was absent once you got off the main road, and there was none in the hotel grounds and car parking was inadequate and congested. I don't think the venue was interested or trying in any way to create a good market experience for the stall holders or the shoppers. Disappointing.

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    1. We went to the one in Leitrim as there are so many gifted craft workers in both Leitrim and Sligo, there is a very good energy in that area which is not present in Roscommon and only in small parts of Mayo. we have always put it down to ley lines, which we are certain exist although many people would say they don't. The energy in those two counties has to come from somewhere.

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  5. Your glass painting is really impressive! Love the tea light design inspired by Clarice Cliff. I agree with the above that you should set up stall! Lovely looking sticky buns...I always come away from your blog hungry and I've only just eaten xxx

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  6. I will make sure to make sticky buns for you at Easter, in fact we make very nice hot cross buns.

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