Seasonal markets and other entertainments!

What are you doing with your phone?

Oh, I see - you're taking my photograph!

I was going to title this blog ‘Hurtling towards the Festive Season!’ but, as we are now a mere two days away from The Day, it seems a little late as we have now ‘Hurtled!’.

I know I keep saying it, but I really don’t know where the time goes, and I don’t think it’s just an age thing as many of the younger generation have also been heard to bemoan that fact. I can’t believe that it was the very beginning of November when I last published a blog. The intention has been there to write a new one for a few weeks but I just don’t seem to have been in the right frame of mind to get started – a bit like my larger idea of writing a book about my WWOOFing experiences based on these blogs and the journals that I kept at the time.

After my second visit, to my miracle-working osteopath, the Covid headache disappeared and I suddenly felt a lot more positive and energetic. However, I decided to be cautious and continued to limit my gardening jobs to a maximum of three hours at a time. My three remaining clients were all fine with this as I was mainly cutting back roses and herbaceous plants that were past their best and generally putting things to bed for the winter.

Having enjoyed the Fairport Convention concert in Wells Cathedral last year (despite a very large pillar completely obscuring my view) I decided to go to another one. This was a group of 4 fiddle players from various areas of Scotland with a guitarist and keyboard accompaniment called Blazin’ Fiddles. I paid more for my ticket this time so was seated in the main body of the nave, and could see most of what was going on despite there being taller people seated in front of me. The band played a lively selection of jigs, reels and airs from all over Scotland, some from Canada and a few from Ireland which kept the audience foot-tapping and hand-clapping for much of the evening. I couldn’t resist taking a photo of the scissor arches which support the main cathedral tower as they are so exceptionally beautiful and fill me with awe at the skill of the medieval craftsmen who fashioned them. In the New Year I am thinking of becoming a volunteer steward at the Cathedral, not because I am at all religious, but because I love the skill and workmanship that has been put into the fabric of the building.

The amazing Scissor Arch in Wells Cathedral

In the middle of November I booked a last minute Christmas Fair at an indoor venue in Pilton. I wasn’t expecting much in the way of sales as it was a village event and there were several other stalls with knitted and crocheted work. However, it turned out to be very successful and was worth the effort. Later in the evening Jeni and I went to Glastonbury Carnival, the last one in the so-called Guy Fawkes Carnivals that take place across Somerset during November. It was the first time that we’d been to the Glastonbury one, although we have attended most of the Wells ones since Jeni was in a pushchair! The carts (we don’t call them ‘floats’) were hugely impressive although I failed to take any photos! To be honest there are so many light bulbs on each cart that, when I’ve tried to capture them in previous years, my camera has just produced a blurry mass that could be anything! It was the first time the carnivals had taken place since the pandemic and I think everyone was really enthusiastic that they had returned with such style!

My stall at Pilton Christmas Fair

The following Saturday was the Glastonbury Frost Fayre, another annual event that makes the High Street one large street market and entertainment venue. I decided to walk down, even though it was quite drizzly, and immerse myself in the Glastonbury vibe. This meant buying mulled cider at the top of the High Street and then ambling down looking at all the stalls of wondrous stuff that was available. I bought a pretty pair of butterfly earrings for Jeni’s birthday and also had some sparkles tied into my hair. I’ve had these done before and they seem to stay in quite well in my hair – one lasted for more than a year!

I had two further markets at which I had a stall, both outdoor venues, and Jeni came along to keep me company. The first was the last Shepton Sunday Market of the year, where I sold socks and fingerless gloves and a couple of needle-felted sculptures and the second was at the Farm Shop just outside Shepton Mallet that stocks a few of my jams and marmalades. I really wasn’t expecting a lot from this market as the temperatures were well below freezing, and it is a little bit off the beaten track. How wrong was I! It turned out to be my best trading day ever (I’m still not going to make my fortune at this, though!) and the atmosphere was brilliant. It was a long day from set-up at 9.30 to break down at 4pm, and I don’t think the temperature went above freezing for more than half-an-hour in the middle of the day – it was perishing! Luckily my lodgers, who used to sell organic vegetables at local markets, reminded me of the trick of standing on cardboard to insulate your feet, and this helped enormously, but we were really glad to pack up and go home at the end of the day. Not surprisingly, socks and fingerless gloves were the most popular items, but I was surprised that I sold so few hats. I also sold some more needle-felted sculptures, so stocks are a little depleted now. It's just as well that my next market is not until March 2023, so I have ample time to knit more gloves and socks.

Needle-felted snowmen, elves and Father Christmas

Needle-felted woodland creatures

My lovely lodgers have finally managed to emigrate to Greece! It has taken them months to wade through all the bureaucratic red tape that is now involved in moving to an EU country. Before Brexit they would have just gone and been able to work and apply for residency from there. Now, they have to have visas, proof of funds, health checks, a visa interview and two different types of health insurance before they can even set foot in the country! They remained remarkably cheerful for the five months that they were with me, but stress-related health issues began to creep in in the last few weeks, so it was a huge relief for them to finally go. Initially, I had volunteered to drive them to Bristol Airport but as the date drew nearer and the temperatures plummeted I chickened out of a potentially icy, foggy drive in the wee small hours and asked them to book a taxi. I believe the temperature in Greece, near Kalamata, was about 20C so a huge difference with our minus 5-6 degrees! I have an open invitation to visit them so perhaps I’ll manage it sometime in 2023, who knows?

At the beginning of this week I did a three-day farm sit for the alpacas, to enable Chris, Sarah and little Penny to have a bit of a Christmas break. Luckily (?) the weather had changed from freezing cold to mild and wet, so I duly packed wet-weather gear and a complete change of clothing – you never know when you’re going to fall flat in the mud or just get soaked to the skin! I got there at 8.30am and Sarah and I did the morning let out and feeding routine.

All of the poultry are in ‘flockdown’ due to the highly contagious avian flu that is about at the moment, so the hens have to remain in their covered pens, the ducks have a permanent pen with a netting roof and the geese have a movable pen as they are grazers and need fresh grass available to them. The goose pen covered quite a large area and was formed of security fencing panels, cable-tied together and covered over with a huge net supported in the middle by two long poles in garden umbrella stands. Not long after the family departed, I went out to put fresh water in for the geese only to find that, due to the gusty wind and heavy rain, one side of the pen had completely collapsed, snapping all of the cable ties and folding one of the panels in half! For a few moments I stood there in complete disbelief, but soon realised that I couldn’t leave it like that, especially as the geese were huddled in a traumatised group in the bit of pen that was still available to them.

I started the reconstruction by dismantling all of the fallen panels from each other and the overhead net, dragging away the damaged panel and then attempting to reconstruct a slightly smaller pen using baler twine instead of cable ties. It soon became obvious that, with the wind still gusting strongly, I was going to have to guy the panels in some way, so I set off on a hunt around all the farm buildings for suitable metal spikes and a lump hammer, plus lots more baler twine! The reconstruction took several hours and by then I was soaked to the skin and definitely needed that change of clothing! I did manage, part way through the day, to change into my full wet weather gear and that helped a lot. Sadly, I never thought to take a photo of the initial carnage as I was too focussed on rescuing the geese who, after the second day, got over their distrust of their pen and were once more happy to spread out and graze. 

The mobile goose pen

All of this side had collapsed!

The rest of the farm sit went off without a hitch and I spotted a sparrowhawk, a buzzard and a red kite on my daily walks to the furthest part of the farm to feed the alpaca boys. I still keep hoping to spot otters and kingfishers along the river, but no luck so far.

Red Kite over Woollard!

Finally, I am almost Christmas-ready, with presents wrapped and mince pies made, so I will wish you all a happy and peaceful festive season and will be back in 2023 to try and entertain you.