New Year ... New Beginnings ...

Firstly, I should like to thank everyone for their comments during 2007. It has been such fun living life with blogland ever present in the background. This oversized family which we have become has been such a joy, with plenty of laughter along the way. There have been a few stressful times too, when you have lent your support with such wonderful comments. Your support of the Vintage to Victorian website has also been much appreciated. I haven't really kept up with it as I intended, but life being what it is in the fast lane (aka the sleepy town of Somerton), time has frequently run out to fit everything in ... or if not time, then my camera battery has similarly run out of steam!

But now 2007 is drawing to a close. Changes are afoot and 2008 is to be a year of "new beginnings".

As you may recall, I mentioned recently that I had made a huge decision. You will also have seen some shots of Dairy House Antiques which I posted earlier this month. Dairy House is an antiques centre/shop currently home to 10 dealers (soon to be more). From April 2008 it will be under new ownership. This may sound a long way off but, believe me, it will arrive quicker than we think.

Have you guessed yet?
Yes ... it's me!!!

As of 6 April the new proprietor of Dairy House Antiques, Semley, near Shaftesbury will be Mrs S M Meager ... and she very much hopes you will all be with her every step of the way. She will be very much in need of tea, sympathy, pats on the back, a stiff G&T at regular intervals, chocolate (equally frequently), knock-out drops, encouragement and, above all, someone to say "you're doing the right thing". Do you fancy coming along for the ride? She does hope so! (And I promise I will write no more than one post per week which begins with the expletive "Aaaaaaaaargh!!!") Wish me luck!

And to you

Dear Readers

I wish ...

the best of good fortune ...

the happiest of years ...

the energy to continue to write your wonderful posts ...

and health and prosperity throughout the coming year!

Happy New Year

to One and All

Sue x

So Here It Is ...

Merry Christmas

Wishing You All a Very Happy Christmas

and a Healthy and Prosperous New Year!

I took photos of our tree but despite two attempts and about 30 photos, not one is blogworthy. They were all blurred and out of focus. Sorry!

But that doesn't stop me wishing you

everything you would wish for yourselves this Christmas

and here's to a jolly blogging 2008 to us all ...

Dairy Selection ...

I actually remembered to take my camera with me yesterday so was able to take some photos at Dairy House Antiques. I took them with a view to adding them on to the DHA website which is currently just a front page saying where we are. However, as there are a lot of you out there who are interested in antiques generally I thought I'd list them here, too. It will also give you an idea of where I spend my Thursdays!

A fuse blew when I turned on one of the lights yesterday morning, so for an hour or two we were in semi-darkness in what happens to be the darkest room of the building. The walls are painted a dark green and there is very little daylight coming in, so it was rather tomb-like for a while. But at least it was warm as that's the room with a huge woodburner which I soon had roaring away and giving out plenty of heat on a chilly day.

Currently, there are ten dealers renting space but more are anticipated in the spring and I've made a monumental decision which I'll post about after Christmas. Meantime, if you are in the region of the Dorset/Wiltshire border any time soon, do pop in and see us.

I'm taking Mum to the garden centre in Yeovil which Pauley and I found the other day. Their Christmas area has been set out beautifully, and P and I stood for ages grinning like children at the amazing train set with carriages not unlike the Pullman Express travelling round a snowy track. It all looked wonderful and I know Mum will love it. She'll probably remind me of the winter of 1947 when they had to dig their way along the A5/Watling Street in Northamptonshire (with photos to prove it!). But I shall laugh and say "I expected you'd say that!" They also have hundreds of large toy animals, presumably battery operated, that 'breathe', furry penguins which flap their wings, a dog lying in front of a hearth which lifts its head and rests it on one paw and then the other. Such fun. I don't think I've been so excited about a shop's Christmas display ... ever!

Time to get on ...

Packed My Bags and I'm Ready To Go ...

... to the Giant Flea tomorrow morning ... leaving home at 7.00 am! Hopefully the weather forecast stating there could be 80 mph winds in the West Country got it wrong. Niki, complete with cold, Clare ditto, and other regulars are hoping to come, so I hope for their sakes that it's not too wild and woolly but I have a feeling it will be. On the plus side, provided people come, I could do well as I doubt if there will be too many braving outside pitches.

I've just been looking at where my blog visitors come from, and where they go after they've visited me. I'm always interested when it shows someone from Northampton has looked as I wonder if I know them ... perhaps we were at school together ... or caught the same bus ... I love this small world we bloggers live in. Sadly, unless they leave a comment I'll never know who they are. Sitemeter gives the location, but never the address, wisely I'm sure, but I'm too curious, and always check how they got to me and who they decided to visit next.

No photos today, but there could be a few next week ... all being well!

Have a jolly, and not too chilly, weekend!

Update: Monday evening
What a wet day it was, with fewer visitors than normal (but more than expected)! It turned out to be a reasonably good day from the sales point of view, with one or two large items selling which added nicely to the total. Thank you all for your good wishes. That's it now until January. No more loading up the car for a few weeks ... and Christmas? .... I think I might have time to write cards, plan prezzies, fill the fridge and freezer and write my letter to Santa! Who knows, I might even manage to add a few items to the website!

Dates for 2008 - Shepton Mallet Fairs

I've just correlated the dates for the DMG Antiques Fair and the Giant Flea Market and have listed them at the bottom of the sidebar.

I can't believe how they've messed up their dates for 2008. In 2007 DMG decided to cancel the January Fair but many stallholders complained as, believe it or not, it is a good Fair. As a result DMG reinstated it but cancelled the July Fair which seemed to suit everyone as it's usually quite a poor Fair at the start of the holiday season. Meanwhile, Sue Ede had taken up the offer of a January date for the Giant Flea Market. Not ideal having them both in the same month, but we lived with it!

The ridiculous thing is they've done it again for 2008, but if you check the listing you'll see that for 2 months the Fairs are on consecutive weekends. How daft is that? So, in January we have 2 Fairs (2 weekends in a row); there's nothing in February; 2 Fairs (3 weeks apart) in March; nothing in April; 2 Fairs (2 weekends in a row again) in May and then, the most ridiculous thing, absolutely nothing from the 9-11 May date until 31 AUGUST, leaving 3½ months with no Fairs at all. Thankfully they get their act together thereafter, and there is a Fair a month from September to December. The Fairs were always staged in alternate months and we all knew where we were, and could anticipate some earnings every month. Admittedly many dealers do other Fairs in between, but some of us only do Shepton and it has rather messed things up. From April 2008 my weekends are going to be taken up with another project that I'll be able to tell you about in the New Year and so travelling to other Fairs isn't going to be an option. I'm a bit miffed. Can you tell? I'll get over it, but it's a worse scenario than I had realised until I marked them all on the calendar.

Rant over ...

I hope to take some photos of stock today and really, really want to get items added to the Shop. You are all so good to keep looking and I feel I'm not keeping to my side of the bargain at all. I promise to do better in the New Year. I have plans to organise my life a bit better ... hee hee. Watch this space, but please, please don't hold your breath!

Have a jolly Sunday afternoon.