Fete-ed

Claire July 9th, 2012

Poor pun there.  Really no excuse for it but I couldn’t think of anything more exciting to use as a title!  Our WI had the annual summer fete on Saturday, and it was a great day.  I was quite grumpy at the start of the day after not having more than a few hours sleep and being quite hormonal, but after a cake and a Mariachi style version of “Hotel California” I mellowed out a little bit and got into the swing of things!  Probably the sugar rush from having one of these for breakfast helped too!

There were lots of new stalls this year, which added to the variety on offer for people, and it was really good chatting to some new people, although it did remind me that Nottingham really is a small city when you discover someone you’ve never met before knows half the people you do!  One of the new stalls was my lovely friend Vicky’s first venture into selling plants, which luckily proved to be popular with the people who came along.

Doesn’t the stall look pretty?  That’s my gingham clad backside trying to wangle it’s way in to the shot there, oops!  I had my stall next to Vicky so I was able to gibber at her all day – poor thing, I tend to get a bit hyper and chatty when I am running on adrenaline, so goodness knows if I made any sense at all!

Leanne, another one of my friends and a fellow WI committee member was offering manicures and selling some of her fabulous pre-painted nails; I think what I marvel most about it how she manages to get the whole set to match so perfectly – check out her Etsy shop if you don’t believe me!

And I had managed to get some new stock for the stall (lots of late nights and frantic sewing as per usual….) – this time I decided to take along the things I know are usually popular that I had a few of – I am always conscious that my stall can easily look a bit like a jumble sale with lots of bright colours and “stuff” everywhere, so I wanted to make it a bit nore streamlined this time.  Along with the retro aprons (new colourways and styles this time),peg bags, sewing baskets, pin cushions and needlecases, make up bags and brooches, I took along coat hanger sets (one crochet, one vintage fabric), padded notice boards, lucite jewellery, crochet tea cosies and scrap bags made from some of the de-cluttering I have forced myself to do.  I left at home the bits where I only had one or two of them, like pencil rolls and laundry bags.  My next aim is to get some stuff back in the shop (once the server has been re-built and messed around with – no doubt David has told me the technical term for it, but that’s where my knowledge ends…) and on Etsy, otherwise it will be sitting round til the next summer fete!  But overall I am pleased with the way it looked and it felt less cluttered (although I couldn’t fit much more on the table if I tried!).

And the piece de resistance as ever is the cake stall, which I am sure you will agree looks amazing!   No matter what else the WI are involved in, be it campaigning or education, it always comes with a respected history of baking excellent cakes, and I don’t think we let the side down at all!

I took along a chocolate fudge cake and flapjacks, and I can personally vouch for the fabulousness of the strawberry cupcakes that Kerry our President  made, the strawberry and cream Victoria Sponge, lemon drizzle buns, rice crispie cakes…all in the name of charity you understand!

Well, that’s it over now for another year, we raised money for a fantastic cause, ate cake and had fun, so what more could we ask for? (apart from some sunshine, but that’s a given really!) and that’s not something that anyone, not even the WI can control!

If you would like to know more about joining the WI have a look here to find your local branch, and if you’re in Nottingham come and join us – I’m sure you’d love it xoxo

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