Thursday, October 30, 2008
Fairy Days
Dear Fairy Friends
Well it has been a while since I last wrote my blog. I must apologise but since we came back from Australia it has been hectic. It has been hard coming to terms with my Mother being in a home, she has always been such a busy active person so to see her like she is now is so difficult. Plus I had not seen her for 5 years so its such a shock and being so far away makes yuou feel so helpless. But life goes on and we all choose the path we go down. They have had a good life in Australia and I have my family and life here.
On a much happier note my daughter gave birth ot a little girl in July she was over two months early, but though small, she was perfect in every way. She weighed in at 2lb 6oz and I am pleased to say she now weighs in at 8lb 10oz, she is thriving and comes to Grandma’s regularly. She is such a beautiful little girl and I look forward to spending lots of time with her and talking about the fairies.
The fairies are busy as ever they are never far away from me. At time life gets in the way and I drift away from them, but they are always with me and there are times I think I should listen to them more often. We should all trust in what the universe has in store for us rather than worry so much about life. I am so good at giving advice I just wish I would listen to myself more often!!!!!!
We had a three day show at Hatfield House in the summer. It was a beautiful weekend but very quiet. It is very noticable that people are being more cautious with money. I must admit I am, so its hard for retail. It is strange how we have changed, looking at people out they always buy food and drinks. When my children were young we always had a picnic as we never had spare money for food. It just show our changing values. On a recent show at Milton Keynes, my friend and I had to limit ourselves to buying one coffee (cappachino) a day who would have thought that we would spend £2.80 on a coffee, mind you it was good and set us up for the day. We spent four days in the centre of M K it was lovely and we met many fairy friensds. Christmas is approaching fast and we all like to have a little spend then.
The website is looking really good and the Fairy Queen writes a blog occasionally, she is a bit busy though so its hard to pin her down. She is very good at replying to all the letters she receives though. You can now write to the Fairy Queen through the website and that works well she gets lots of letters. I even write to a young lady called Tilly which is lovely its nice to make new friends.
We have decided this year that we do not want to do any more outdoor shows. We have spent so many hours with wet feet. Our extreme weather means we have to armed with groundsheets, plastic & unberella’s. On a recent Steam Fair it was a mud bath. We arrived on the Friday night to set up and as we slithered accross the mud plane to get to the stall the heavens opened. What fun. Mind you the rest of the weekend was fine and the sun shone oso a good time was had by all.
On saying that we always do the Victorian Christmas Fair in Bedford, which is outside, but it is not on grass but last year we did get wet feet! We have learn’t to go armed with tarpaulin & plastic. I have to admit though it is a fantastic event we all have to dress up on Victorian costume and there are old fairground rides, lots of hot chocolate ( I like the one with the Bailey’s best) and lots and lots of stalls. It really is an event worth coming to. The first year we did it was fantastic as it was very frosty & misty so it was a real Victorian look. It is such good fun but you do have to wear many many layers and it no matter how many you wear it still seems cold but being in December you would not expect anyting else.
Two weeks ago we did a Mind, Body & Soul show at Linton. This was at a winery, lovely place & a nice setting for a show. It was a very warm weekend and it was good to meet up with our good friends Tony & Teressa, they are the ones that sell the wonderful pictures, needless to say I bought more…. If you get chance have a look on there website www.tonypinfold.com.
We then had a weekend of and my two Grandaughter’s from Melton Mobray came to stay. Its the first time they have stayed for three mights so it was great fun. We took them to Linton Zoo. Its a lovely place, not huge but has a wide range of animals including lions, tigers, zebra’s panthers and much much more. I have also been very busy writing fairy wishes, I have been selling them wholesale so had an order for nearly 300. Did you know you can buy them from the website? You can have a special wish written and it will be personalised all for the sum of £4.99 incl P & P Cannot be bad.
Last weekend I went away for the weekend on a Ghost Vigil so I will tell you about that next time. This weekend we are of to Brentwood to a Christmas Show. Hopefully I will find some presents too. So I had better go and get on with sorting.
Take care all of you and wrap up warm in this weather. Look after each other.
Best fairy wishes
Anne
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
Fairy Business
Hello to all my fairy friends,
Firstly I must apologise for not writing sooner, the last few weeks have flown by. I will backtrack as I wrote a blog on 14th July but have never had time to type it up.
04/07/08
As you know we have been in Australia for three weeks visiting family, so it has been quite difficult writing the blog. We were staying in a suburb of Melbourne called Parkdale and I have to be honest the weather was not good.. It rained (of course) and was cold. I was not prepared & spent the whole holiday in a variety of jumpers wishing I had taken my bomber jacket. I spent a lot of time with my Mum but we did manage to have some trips out.
The first being a trip to Sovereign Hill. This is an old gold mine at Ballaret, it was one of the first places to have struck gold. They have now rebuilt the town as it would have been in those early days. It is an amazing place, the people who work there all dress in the old costumes & you really do feel you are strepping back in time. It makes you want to put a long dress om and stroll along the streets with your basket of shopping. You can go gold panning, visit the gold mine and even go on the stage coach. It has a bar, hotel, post office,church, and much much more. It is great fun & we had a great day. We tried to pan for gold hoping to make our fortune but to no avail!!!!!
Our next trip out was to a wonderful place called Phillip Island, everyone would love this it is the home of the Fairy Penguin ( though we are not allowed to call them that now we have to call the Little Penguins, political correctness gone mad). On the way there we stopped at a cattle farm, were they also have Kangaroos & Wombats. First we had morning coffee & hot scones and I have to say they were the most wonderful sones I have ever had. After coffee we went to feed the Kangaroos & Wallaby’s. They are gorgous & so friendy obviously used to all the public feeding them, we also saw the wombats I have to say they are a favourite of mine. Back on the coach we travelled to The Koala Reserve. This is a wonderful idea. They created a reserve to protect the Koalas so they live in the wild but they have built a wooden walkway in the trees and if you are lucky you can see a Koala close up. We were in luck and I am sure this LKoala knew we were there because it put on such a good show for us and we got loads of pictures. We just did not spend long enouhg there though, I could have stayed much longer, but back on the coach we all got and drove down to the Penguin Reserve. Whar a lovely place this is and even the rain did not put us of. Every evening the tiny penguins come in from the sea back to there nests. It is a funny sight, when you look out to sea you can see them all swimming inwards in little groups. When they hit the beach there is always one who comes out first, looks, then rushes back into the sea, this is repeated several times before they all rush up the beach. Its a wonderful sight and then you can walk along the walkways abd see them walk back to there homes. We had dinner that night at a place called Cowes!! A lot of the places are names after places in England. My Mum used to live at Cheltenham. It seems strange but of course the original immigrants came from England. It was a late night that night but well worth it.
We then had a wonderful day down the great Ocean Road, stunning scenery, wonderful rainforests, you really have to be there. We saw surfers at Torquay had dinner at Port Campbell, saw Koalas in the trees, Kangaroos running wild & fed the Parrots & Rosella’s.
The highlight of the holiday (afterMum) was a trip to Sydney. Though I have been to Melbourne several times this was my first trip too Sydney. We decided to go by train, I do not thing my husband saw the logic in this but it is something I have always wanted to do . Sydney is 800 miles away from Melbourne and the train journey took 12 hours. It was an interesting journey though seeing all the countryside and different houses. Some were quite poor & others were mansions. We arrived in Sydney late and arrived at our hotel to discover the room had not been made up & it was a tip. We were given a bigger room with a huge bed & just collapsed. The next day we set out to explore, well it was an amazing place so very busy & alive, Melbourne is much more laid back. Our first point of call was to the ferries, you can get a ferry all over Sydney as the whole city is based on water. The first sight we saw was the Opera House, what an amazing sight this is, I think I have photographed this from every angle, apart from under the water & from the sky. We went under the bridge saw Darling Harbout & much much more. We spent three days exploring, we did the city bus tour, went up the tower & had dinner in the revolving restaurant, saw the Japenese Gardens visited the Rocks which is the oldest part of Sydney. We even went on a Ghost walk. What a time we had & by the time we got back on the train we were exhausted & we had a long nights journey to get back to Melbourne. By the time we got back to Parkdale at 9.00 in the morning we just collapsed into bed & slept for hours.
Still on all our travels we saw no fairies, I feel they are sadly lacking in Australia.
Still what a time we had but all to soon we were saying goodbye & flying home. Mind you its good to be back with the fairies as they say, its good to go traveling but its oh so nice to come home.
05/08/08
Well after all that its been very quiet. On arriving home I was told my daughter was in hospital so its all been hectic & a worrying time. We took the fairies to the Bedford River Festival. After a very wet start the sun shone & a wonderful time was had by all. Since the we have had no shows but my daughter has had a beautiful baby girl so its just as well as we have had plenty to do.
The next show is at Hatfield House on the 15th, 16th & 17th August. Have loads to do before then as all the fairies need sorting.
Well I will write again soon and let you know how the show goes.
Take care of each other.
Best fairy wishes
Anne
Monday, June 23, 2008
Away With The Fairies Down Under.
22/06/2008
Well I have a very different fairy blog this week. For once no wet feet or sitting in a tent in the middle of a field in the rain!
I am writing this from down under, yes that\’s it Australia. On the 14th June we had a Mind Body & Soul show at Plinston Hall in Letchworth. This is a wonderful show as its a meeting of old friends. This time we had a tardis on one side of us, which pleased Mark no end as he is an avid Dr Who fan & we even have a real Dalek upstairs) The other side was rock salt lamps which are lovely & give you such a good feeling, we sat all day in a glow. It was a good show & I am pleased to say no wet feet!!!!!!!!
We also met our good friend Tony Pinhold, he doe\’s the most fantastic pictures and he & his wife are two of the most adorable people. Check out his website it is linked to ours. All in all it was a good day and the fairies were carefully packed away for a few weeks because on Sunday we caught a plane to Melbourne. Now if you have ever been on a long haul flight you will realise that unless you are 5 foot and weigh 6 stone it is the most uncomfortable journey. On the way to hong Kong we were O.K. as we had two empty seats beside us - but from Hong Kong to Melbourne it was awful we were squashed in like sardines.
Still we survived and here we are. We left Sunday and arrived Monday evening - Tuesday dawned bright and sunny but guess what for the rest of the week - it has rained. It is so cold to. Plus I have not found any fairies. Do they not like them down under?
Oh well of to explore Melbourne.
Best fairy wishes
Anne
Friday, June 13, 2008
Away With The Fairies Country Show
07/06/08
Well there must be something about me - I am destined to always have wet feet at weekends!!!!!!!!
We arrived this morning at Castle Ashby at the crack of dawn with all the fairies, this is a beautiful house & gardens the other side of Bedford just as you get into Northamptonshire. We have not been to this show before and we are attending a Garden Show. On our arival we were directed to a yellow marque where we would find our pitch. On my instructions for the show we were told we could drive up to the marquee to unload our wares. This was just not the case, we were not allowed to drive up the main road to the house nor to go onto the grass to the marquee. We had to park on the service road behind the marquee.
We then had to tramp accross a very hilly torrain dragging the bags with us - both getting more and more stroppy as the time went on! My idea was of course was to carry so much that I got stuck half way accross unable to move.
The grass was very long and of course very wet. You always know when we are doing a show outside as it will usually rain. Mind you I am grateful it is not raining now. But I do have very wet feet and my trousers are wet and muddy half way up my calves. Of course any sensible person would have wellie\’s but with big feet and swollen ankles it is just not possible. At one point I tripped over an electric cable and my foot came out of my shoe straight onto the grass - thankfully missing a pile of sheep dung. See what I have to put up with!!!!!!!! Talk about away with the fairies!
Despite all the trials and tribulations we set up in plenty of time. Poor Mark(hubby) is suffering with his back today(all that lugging) and went to have a sit down on the chairs provided, what a sight as he sat down the chair sank lower and lower into the ground till he was sitting on a small stool. We should not have laughed but it was such a funny sight and lightened the mood of the morning.
Now we are waiting for the people. I dare not move on my chair because everytime I do it sinks lower and lower and I fear I will diassapear into a big hole. Its very cold in the tent and the damp is beginning to set in.
Wow, we have some good news though the sheep man is here, Hurrah. A few years ago we saw the sheep man at the Beds County Show. It was so funny and such a good show. He has about 8-9 different breeds of sheep which he tells you all about, were they came from etc. He is such a good comic and so entertaining, he then shears one of the sheep. It is very interesting but his crowning glory is at the end when he plays pop music and all the sheep dance. It is so funny I had never seen dancing sheep before but this guy (plus the sheep) are brilliant.
Well thats made my day so I am of now to catch the show I understand he now has dancing ducks to……hm could be interesting.
Take care and look after each other
Best fairy wishes
Anne
Thursday, June 5, 2008
A day in the life of running ‘Away with the Fairies’
05/06/2008
Hi my name is Anne and this is a totally new venture for me. I have decided to write about my adventures of running a fairy business.
It started many moons ago when I was just four years old. I was given a fairy cup and saucer by an old man I used to visit with my Mother. He told me many tales of fairies, it was so magical, from then on I was hooked. I have always had a fascination with fairies but it was not untill twenty years ago that my passion really took of.
I met my husband & one day we went to a craft fair. There he bought me a wonderful picture by Margaret Tarrant of a little girl sitting on the hillside with her brother. She had rabbits round her feet and fairies flying all round her head. It is a fantastic picture. This really captured me and I started a collection of fairies that now totally fill my house.
A few years ago I thought it would be great to have a business doing things I was passionate about. My husbands grandparents were over and I was telling them my idea’ s when Grandad said you are truely ‘Away With The Fairies’ Hence the business was born.
We have learn’t and are continuing to learn the hard way and as the weeks go by I will tell you more.
Today I am sitting in a field at The Bedford Kite festival. We have a strong smell of cooking in the tent, even thought it is a craft tent, as they are cooking Kangaroo burgers or should I say burning!!!!!!!! The smoke is filling up so much that soon you will have a job to see us! It is very humid in the tent and the heavy dew has made my feet very wet. We were up at 6.30 a.m. to get here so we could set up, we had to clamber through the trees with all the boxes, on top of all this my husband has hurt his back with all the lugging he hsas had to do this morning. So as you can see its all good fun!
Mind you the fairies are all on display doing us proud and everyone is having a good look. We do all this to promote the website as we are trying to build a fairy community. I truly believe in fairies and I know they are all around me - so i just want to spread a little magic.
So I will continue to sit here with wet feet and the smell of Kangaroo burgers cooking and you will be totally convinced that we are truly ‘Away With The Fairies’ .
Still at least it not snowing like it was the last time we were in a tent outside!
Best fairy wishes
Anne