How did it get to be nearly the end of September?
The weeks have skimmed past...SO MANY visitors!  What a busy summer....almost  like the old days and the difference in sales has made be realise how poor the last four summers have been.  Good to have a surplus again....as long as I don't spend it all on clothes.

I went up to the NEC Autumn Fair because I could afford the petrol and because I love looking at things.  I ordered quite a lot of new stock actually because if you filter out the rubbish there are some excellent makers on show there, plus it's great for trends and ideas for my own making.  The seminars about how to be a better shopkeeper are worth a listen too - if only to remind one to try harder!

Spent two days there this time, and it paid off because by looking a bit more closely and carefully I really ordered some lovely bits and pieces which are now coming into the gallery in time for Christmas.  I especially wanted affordable jewellery and re-ordered from Gama and found a new company called Pasha who do wonderful, well priced silver plated things, due in the middle of October.

I've decided to do a small amount of Fair Trade and look forward to the colourful scarves and textiles coming in soon.  This little doggie arrived earlier in the week...he fits in very well with the ceramic ones don't you think?

I also met up with the girls who run Skinny Whistle in Quorn in Leicestershire - stockists of my work, and had a gossip and a nice sit down.

Almost immediately after I went up to Wirksworth Festival, to stay with Mo and Peter who are about to buy a house in the town.  We did some ancestor hunting and found our grannies and great grannies lived a few streets away from each other in the late 1800's and would have know each other.  She says her family was much posher than mine and found a skeleton in my family's closet...(nothing new there I thought!).  Here I am outside our former family house....

She now keeps sending me sales details of properties for sale in the town - very tempting I have to say....

We had a lovely time meeting up with Rachel Bonser from Art Foundation days at Wilmorton and Mark Smith, and guess what....we all had a gossip and a nice sit down.  Planning the same again with Rachel as she's visiting The Lizard this week with her family....the venue will be Roskilly's Ice Cream - yummy.

Back to work as some lovely trade orders are still coming in - a sign of how busy people have been over the summer.  New work still being created....a small sample to follow here....

I had dinner with Emma Ball on Monday night...she's supposed to be on holiday but is visiting some of her Cornish customers and all we did was talk about business and the old days when we would sit in village halls all over the East Midlands saying, thinking and hoping there was more to life and of course, there was!  Just as I am writing this I have sold a print and two of her tea towels.  We have had three deliveries of these tea towels in the last six weeks....a brilliant design...thank you Emma!

Kara is coming to the end of her mammoth summer season with the Minack....she has loved working there so much and hopes to do the same again next summer.  We went to look at Bristol Uni but she decided the course was too academic and not practical enough for her so we're hoping for better luck with Chichester and Bath - visits coming up over the next couple of weeks.  What a great excuse to visit these lovely cities!

The best news of all is the arrival of a little sister for Apollo...say hello to Ruby Tuesday who is a smoke Colourpoint British Shorthair and it was love at first sight....I have never integrated a cat so quickly - ever!  She's very feisty too and I think will end up being the boss of all of them.....

Yes...he really does have his arms around her giving her a kiss xx