Till Next Year

And just like that December and 2023 is almost gone. And was this month quieter for me? In some ways yes, but in other ways the six Xmas lunches and dinners had me groaning with belly-ache. Fortunately, I checked today and no weight gain, despite no karate, or yoga (excluding one retreat) for two weeks.

The 6th saw me at my last ever fair in St Peter’s Church Sandwich. I was sad to be leaving this venue, despite how cold it can sometimes get—and this year it was freezing. The folk inside this venue are permanent and friendly, which makes any fair a bonus. Plus the full-time second-hand shop they run there is amazing. I have personally purchased many items for my home. Add to that the lovely café which has recently had a re-fit and it’s the perfect place to pop your partner in the café while you browse. They’ve got a bookshop corner too.

The 9th saw me in Faversham for the last Eventissima event of the year—more booked there for 2024. I’m not sure why I go there, I certainly don’t sell much, but like before the bunch of traders there are amazing, the crafts on sale awesome. I usually spend a lot—come on there’s handmade chocolate! Also Jo and Nick have to be the most supportive organisers ever. They spend their entire days promoting each event.
10th December saw the family Christmas Shopping. This is a tradition my husband and I started long ago. Fed up with the stress of locating presents and items along the year and throughout December, we hit upon a plan which works perfectly for us and only induces one single day of stress per year—Christmas-wise.
We pick a date; we pick a nice location. We find a really nice place that does a super breakfast and after that sumptuous meal we write our list of every present we require. Phones are very useful because we don’t need to actually write it out any more. We go down the list deciding what present each person will have, be it relatives, work colleagues, secret Santa’s, or friends and neighbours, then we go buy it. Its that simple.
We return to the car 2 or 3 times during the day and at the end of it, we’ve completely finished. Stress done. It feels brilliant too. This year, for the very first time, we included our son, now 24, in the family tradition and he loved it too. Not only did we all spend the day together, a rare feat these days, but we have a good time doing it. I can thoroughly recommended it.

A few more meals and meeting up with friends and Christmas Day was upon us.

By the way, my separate Estore is closing down due to the host being sold off, my books are all part of this website now. See my STORE tab. Prices sadly are increasing due to my publishing and selling costs escalating.
I’m always on the lookout for businesses interested in selling my books, on commission naturally. I have five more in the 2024 pipeline, in addition to the nine already out there.

We’ve managed a couple of ride outs with our local 055 group of like-minded people, though to be honest its had to be by car due to the weather and someone’s recent karate injury. Our son is back at work already, god bless him. My husband’s gone to investigate a new bike and I’m off out to visit relatives.

Till next year. X Carol
 
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