My first foray into unchartered event territory in 2013, was the Corelli College Spring Market last weekend. I was a little nervous - school events can be very hit and miss and I knew the cold weather would be bound to put some people off.
I don't know about anyone else, but I immediately think of Captain Corelli's Mandolin whenever Corelli College is mentioned - I never saw the film so I know nothing about it - what was so special about his Mandolin - was he a musician playing an unusual instrument or a chef who owned a posh veggie slicer?
I never know how to play these occasions - take lots of stock and hope for the best or, take less and face the prospect of selling out. It may sound like a no-brainer and to be fair, I generally err towards the former, but certainly with longer journeys, lugging mountains of heavy stock can make a huge difference to fuel consumption - something which has to be taken into consideration nowadays, given the horrific cost of fuel and of course, poor old Betsy's not getting any younger - for those unaware, Betsy is my faithful jalopy and companion on my travels.
I digress - back to the Spring Market - Corelli is billed as London's first 'co-operative' academy. I liked the 'all in this together' feel and hoped the market would prove this wasn't just a throwaway description, bearing no relation to reality. Fortunately, it wasn't!
On arrival, I met with friendly greetings, but I was a little disconcerted to see the few other stalls already set up, had simply placed a few items on a table with no cloth or effort to make their display look anything special - I kept my table dressings to a minimum, still feeling a little out of place, but then my neighbouring stallholder, 'All Things Spicy' arrived with red and white spotty covers and red pinnys and all was well with the world!
EJ and Will, my new neighbours for the day, were as bright and bubbly as their choice of design suggested and I breathed a sigh of relief - as a lone stallholder, it makes life so much easier when there is someone to chat and share a joke with - without that, any event can become a long drawn out, tedious affair, especially if there aren't many visitors.
Fortunately, on this occasion, everyone was friendly and chatty and it was nice to be able to simply wander around the hall exchanging banter with all and sundry during the quiet moments. We even had a tall, dark, handsome gentleman to admire - Will went to get us all some tea and came rushing back to tell us that the man serving the tea was a 'dish' - it turns out Will was right - shame the tea service was in another hall! :-)
We also had chickens to keep us company - the students brought a pen and two feathered friends into the hall. Will immediately decided one of them looked like a 'Trevor' despite the fact they were both females! Activities had been organised for the younger visitors and effort had been made to provide a happy relaxed atmosphere for everyone to enjoy.
My stall was located right next to a set of double doors which had been thrown open to the elements to provide access for potential customers. Sadly, by midday, the cold had reached my bones and I felt frozen to the core - I had foolishly left my padded coat at home because the market had been billed as 'indoor' and I assumed I wouldn't need it, so I stood and shivered the entire time, save for about 15 minutes in the middle of the day when watery sunlight appeared - I dashed to the open doorway and soaked up the beams of golden light, which warmed me through and gave me a lift to keep me going for the last hour or so.
As expected, there weren't many visitors to the market and I suspect few stallholders made many sales. As for me, I was happy with my first event of the year - the few visitors who came, showed a lot of interest in my cheeses and homemade preserves and some took my hot chocolate spoons home to enjoy as an afternoon treat - I even sold out of a couple of things - my Cider & Apple Cheddar Cheese was particularly popular!
Not only that, my numbers came up in the raffle too! Whoooo! I was amazed - I rarely win that sort of thing, but now I have a box of biodynamic eggs to enjoy! I'm taking that as a sign - 2013 is going to be a good year!!!
If you fancy taking a look at the products I had on sale at Corelli College, just visit my pages at
www.potsofpassion.co.uk or visit my stall if I am attending an event near you - they will all be listed on the website - it would be lovely to meet you!
I should have been at a fair in St Ives, Cambridge this weekend but sadly, it has been cancelled. Never mind, it means I can take it easy on Mother's Day - if the weather stays dry, I believe Naomi and I will be going to Patisserie Valerie for a leisurely breakfast, then on to the zoo. My son informed me that 'something' is supposed to be delivered on Saturday for me, from him! How exciting...I love surprises! :-)
Wishing all you lovely Mums a fabulous day on Sunday!
Judy
Pots of Passion
