Debby said that it sounded like a lot of preparation for that car boot sale. Believe me, if it were a car boot sale, it would be a bung it in the back job the afternoon before. No, my Fair next weekend is this one and I am in the Dome (right hand side of the photo above). Keith and I used to have a pillar to pillar (triple) stand in the Dome, right next to the lovely couple who used to sell the copper and brass pictured above. I think they retired just before the first Lockdown, so good timing for them. This time I have a single pitch, but also have a portion of one of the nearby glass doored entrance halls into the Dome, which is planted with amazing shrubs and plants from all around the world and which thrive inside the Dome. This gets VERY hot in the summer and pretty chilly in the winter. Next weekend calls for Winter Woollies! I am being very specific with what I am taking and will even have a mock set up on my big kitchen table before I go to see that I have the look I want. I need to strike the right balance with my display. Some of the French brocante style stalls look like they have been professionally curated by window dressers and I can't compete - having totally different stock anyway. I specialize in the unusual - sometimes bizarre - pieces. Who else will have a bronze Indian temple "toy" in the form of a lion with the head of a man, which is meant to represent the Belgian king and Congo dictator Leopold II. Not a strong selling point since he was responsible for the rape, mutilation and genocide of millions of Congoese people. It's "old stock" (I have an awful lot of that, hence still doing Fairs!!) Keith was with me when I had picked it up just to LOOK at it, and ask the price, and the next moment he had bought it (paying far too much). So I am stuck with it . . . I shall have to play down the Leopold II bit . . . or not mention him at all.
I will take quilts and a Welsh blanket, small pieces of furniture including the lovely Smoker's Bow which has been professionally re-caned and looks fabulous (and it is SO rare). A gorgeous inlaid round-topped wine table with a bobbin-turned stand. A lovely little tiny-hexagons tea-cosy cover, huge wooden Welsh cawl spoons, an old ship's lamp or two, the big Turkish dough boards, and some pretty Studio Pottery ceramics. Some old lace, and those gorgeous Chinese and Burmese wooden pieces. Plus paintings and prints. A bit of everything. I will look through Keith's militaria and see what I may be able to fit in on part of the table. I'll try and add some photos later.
