Wednesday 2 March 2011

you wait for 1 craft fair, then 3 come along at once!

It has been CRAZY here at Juicy Towers this past few weeks. After getting hitched up mentally to the possibility that lady Golfers may be from another planet and not appreciate my hand made earth items, and being set right by some of you good readers, I have signed up to 2 more craft fairs BEFORE the golf club fair.
 I have always suffered from 'What the heck, give it a go' syndrome. This in the past has seen me come away from various meetings with a new role. For example, when Taryn was a tiny figlet, I ended up as chairperson of her play school committee, then after attending a meeting to re-energise the local horticultural society, and sitting listening to 2 old gents argue about weather to alter the entrance fee from 15p to 20p for half an hour - I left as Chairperson - again. When some parents wanted to start a 'Rainbow' unit in the village, I came out of the meeting running the 'new' unit - then there was no knit and natter group,  the African drumming class, the list goes on and on - it got so bad that my husband threatened to cut my arm off to stop me raising my hand at the crucial 'do we have any volunteers?' moment - now I just avoid going to meetings - but a tempting e-mail...well, sometimes you do just have to throw caution to the wind and sign up! 

I have been face booking the events, twittering the events, sticking up posters, handing out fliers, and busy busy making items I just hope the buying public will love so much they need to part with their cash to own it! 

In the mean time I have been watching programmes like Hugh's fish fight, The peoples supermarket, country file amongst others and feeling quite confused and torn up about being a part of the whole 'problem'  - I have resolved to buy unusual fish, shop at the fishmongers, and keep an eye out for mackerel on local chip shop menu's (although I can't remember the last time I went to the chippy!) I am trying to shop at Tesco (or the others) as little as possible, but as a child of the 70's I have grown up with large supermarkets and no local grocery shops - so it is taking me some time to get my head around how I shop - getting there though! And country files report on affordable housing for local people in rural locations hit a real chord - this has been a gripe of mine for 20 years! I was brought up in a house my parents bought from my great grandfather, and they still live their - however when me and baby fig moved out almost 20 years ago, I could not afford to buy or rent a property in the village, so had to move to the next village where much of the housing was council housing or mill terraces, and over that 20 year period the prices of houses in Whalley has become obscene! a small 2 up 2 down will set you back up to £250K! The village is growing and growing with new housing - about 10 years ago a huge old 'mental hospital' was closed down apart from a small secure unit - then hundreds of new houses were built around the site, almost doubling the village population - and now plans for another 2-3 hundred houses are being made. All on green fields. They are even considering building a new school - please don't let them knock down the 200 year old school we already have! 

I am feeling less and less like a 'local' I hardly know anyone in the streets and shops, and while walking down a country lane the other week had some 'newcomer' in their 4x4 blast there horn at me to move then call me a 'yokel' as they tore past! 

Give me an Island, with a sewing machine and a stack of fabric - nice weather, Internet connection, and a husband who can catch our food.

5 comments:

Twiggy said...

Good on ya Mrs Fig, I need to volunteer more I think !!
I hear you about village life, our village is odd, there is a small council estate and a couple of average priced housing estates and then some HUGE very expensive houses and still the barn conversions continue and remain empty for ages as no one can afford them!!
Twiggy x
PS Don't even get me started on the amount of traffic we get through the village...

Pooch Purple Reign said...

well, im on the island, got my hobby stuff and my work, and currently looking for a cute dude to catch my food. i do buy my fish at the local fish store for now tho:) the supermarket stuff just doesnt taste the same
~laura

Gilly Tee said...

I'll join you on your soapbox about affordable housing. With 3 children on their 20's and living in 2nd home land(North Norfolk) I get so annoyed at the prices of small houses, aimed at the buyers from London, for their weekend retreats. Rant over.
Gillx

Unknown said...

I think the housing problem is the same everywhere .... so glad we moved here when we did, although the house is a rum little hovel at least is a nice old fashioned little village.But goodness knows how the young ones manage .. housing/renting costs a fortune, and no jobs ... I could go on and on!
Good luck with the fairs ... wish I was nearer to give you a hand.

Vicky x

Taz said...

We moved into this village 9 years ago today and it was a nice fairly small place but with it's own primary and high schools and only one new housing estate.
Now it feels like there are more new lego houses than original bits. The prices of these identikit houses is ridiculous and there is no affordable housing for the young uns to keep them here.
Do you have room on that island (and possibly a spare bloke) for me and the smalls? :)