Just when I need some energy . . .

The view from my bathroom window, across the fields to Llanelwedd quarry down the other side of town.  Proof that the sun does shine here sometimes!

. . . . there is none to be found.  I slept badly again last night - that blasted Alfie again - and I think I need a few nights with cats downstairs since I have the Fair to prepare for.  That's what I spent much of yesterday doing.  I polished the little Georgian scratch-made child's chair up, and did lots of research on the more exotic things I got at the last Fair  at Malvern, but can find NOTHING like them, anywhere.  So valuing will be difficult and the jury is still out on that.  I polished up a little wooden inkwell from the 1920s that has a little Jack Russell type dog cut-out on the top.  I never knew that the His Master's Voice dog logo dated from 1899.  This little dog is very similar.  I went out to the stables and emptied a half-full deep plastic storage box so I can fill it with Fair things, non-ceramic.  I labelled and priced a few items.  In the evening I was hand-quilting the biggest of the 3 quilts from that last auction until Pippi decided she wanted to sleep inside the portion that drooped down towards the floor and after that I couldn't pull it up to work on it for fear of disturbing her.  I know . . . Mrs Softee.

I saw on Facebook this week that my favourite author, Phil Rickman, had died.  He had a bad stroke a few years ago, so I wonder if it was another one that did for him.  There is one last book of his in the pipeline (though not due to be issued for a year).  I have pre-ordered it on Amazon for my Kindle.

I was up very late this morning, and drove to Llandod as I had decided to get the week's grocery shopping out of the way.  I did a Big Shop (just over  £100! EEK!), as several things I use were on offer so worth buying two or three of, and when I looked at my trolley towards the end, there was just ONE meal in it, so it was off to the meat and freezer sections (I bought mostly fish), which I managed to squeeze in my freezers by taking some remaining veggie food of E's and taking it out of the large cardboard cartons to put in small freezer bags with the cooking instructions.  

Another £35 was spent topping the car up with diesel as I have 3 trips to and fro from Carmarthen next Friday to Sunday.

Now I'm going to have a lie down to find some energy for more Fair stock sorting later.  I want it all decided on, boxed and labelled by the end of tomorrow. 

Shattered

 

Yesterday reminded me why I dread the loading and setting up for these events.  I think I need to work on my upper body strength as everything was SO heavy!  Gosh, I miss Keith 100 times more at times like this - he was slim but SO strong and got everything loaded efficiently and quickly.  It took me all morning.  Then a couple of hours unloading and setting up in the afternoon.  Tam got a pass and was a help - she has a good eye for layout.  We had a quick walk round the show, and chatted to friends - some of whom hadn't heard about Keith, so that was hard.

When we got back, I had to start all over again, loading the militaria side of things, the big pine trunk I got recently, Welsh blankets, Victorian curtain poles and this morning I will tuck in the lovely little child's chair, and the two Arts & Crafts copper lamps I sat and polished last night (along with the other reproduction military helmet which Keith had on display.  I'm just keeping the two good ones in the kitchen - one is a Victorian repro we got years ago.) I have gone through all the many auction catalogues we bought at Malvern down the years.  They are a great source of knowledge.  Many of them were about Arms and Armour and Keith got great enjoyment from perusing them. Some were marine paintings, oriental things and tribal art. I have kept the ones on Oak and Country furniture, as that is one of my interests.  The last ones I got him were a Drewetts Country House auction and the Attic Sale from Chatsworth.  My gosh, that was a doorstop and he found it too heavy to have on his lap for long.

Rosie was very good but didn't want to sleep during the day.  She finally went down about 7.30 last night so I hope she slept through for Tam.  

I know I slept well.  Tea was fish and chips as we couldn't even organize ourselves sufficiently to order a takeaway curry. Not a scrap was left on our plates,  gosh we had appetites!  Tonight it will be Chilli from the freezer, which I got out yesterday.  Tomorrow's meal will be Beef Goulash, also from the freezer.  At least I got organized on that front, although we are nearly out of bread and milk!  

Tam's Jon is coming across to the Fair today, but a few hours too late for the unloading!

I fell into bed last night and slept like a log.  The best night's sleep I've had in many months, but it was the sleep of physical exhaustion.  It's 6.20 a.m. here now, and I have to be down at my stand for 7 a.m. and can't leave before 6 p.m. tonight so it is a VERY long day.  I have the book D kindly sent me, The Whalebone Theatre, to keep me occupied for when it goes quiet late afternoon.  I just need to do my hair and makeup and put the other bits in the car and then I can be away.  Quite WHERE I am going to fit helmets, blankets and catalogues on the stall is another matter - despite having 7 tables!