Pumpkin's Positive Post: successes

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Hello, my friends. How are we all? Are we preparing for Christmas at all? I've been busy (I know, what's new?! ) Yesterday was Saturday. I was volunteering at a Christmas fayre. I have talked about our recently re-opened venue (Civic Hall). That's where the fayre was. It co-incided with the town's Christmas lights switch-on. We had the hall open from 11am to 4pm. There were crowds gathering from over an hour before. As the first Civic Hall Christmas Fayre, and uncertainty about the weather, nobody had any idea how the day would go. After the crowds of the morning, I did expect it to slow down a little. It didn't! I think it was packed and really busy until around 3pm. Then it was less busy but still buzzing. There were shows from various local dance groups throughout the day - I saw the auditorium was packed for the last show. I think the earlier ones were a little less busy. I was nicknamed 'Mini Claus' and was tasked with Santa's grotto check-in and directing people to the grotto. I flitted about doing other things. I spent a little time serving at the bar and checking on my 19 year old son, who was also there as a volunteer. All volunteers could get a free pork and stuffing batch (that's our colloquial word for a lump of bread with multiple names - you can often narrow down the origin of an English person to rather specific areas from the word they use for it). I assume you all know what pork is As for stuffing, I'm not sure how popular that is in other parts of the world. Anyway, that was from a local hog roast company. It was very nice. Volunteers are also always allowed free drinks so I had a couple of cups of tea. There were lots of stalls. One that really impressed me was a woodworker. It's of interest to me as it's one of my own hobbies. The stallholder was selling various wooden items decorated with pyrography. He's definitely more talented than I am. He said he had honed his skill as he'd been doing it since 2013. I've been doing it a lot longer than that as my dad taught me when I was a child in the early 1990s. I've just not had the time, patience or motivation to actually improve my skill The dude said it's all good as long as you can draw - which I can't but I will get my husband or son to draw something that I can burn. The dude also said that the hardest part is the shading, which I believe to be true. I've got all the tools and some books. I believe I also have the talent. It's just buried deep inside my lazy exterior Anyway, his stuff was really good, and he was selling it at much more reasonable prices than I've seen some less talented people sell their wares! I didn't buy anything from him but I know my dad did. My dad came up and must have spent a good couple of hours there. We'd got three rooms of stalls as well as two bars and the shows. My dad likes to chat to people so he can easily spend a long time somewhere! He also spent a lot of money, which I expect was true of many visitors. I saw several of my friends from various places. Most were local but one, who used to live nearer, had come over especially for the fayre. It was wonderful to see so many people. I thought both of my sons were going to be there but only the younger one came. He was told that the tech people were expecting him. However, he stuck around watching them for a bit but never actually spoke to the person who was meant to be there to meet him. He ended up on the bar (which surprised me but he seemed to enjoy it and was good at it) and did a bit of door management. Another of the stalls was a theatre company. I'd not heard of them before. I recognised one of the people promoting them. She was someone I last saw 25 to 30 years ago. She hadn't changed much! We were in a local youth theatre together (one of the groups that disbanded when the venue closed). My son might have a look at a workshop they're doing. He's going to be in a show with another group next week. It's a silly version of A Christmas Carol. I'm really looking forward to seeing him in that. The last time I saw him act was in Romeo and Juliet at college. I forget the name of his character. It wasn't a title character but possibly one of their fathers. I'm sure it was a character beginning with B. I was quite hyper yesterday. I'd been listening to Christmas music on my way. I was happy to be volunteering. It's an amazing venue with lots of local support. My sister popped in at the end and gave me a lift home. I don't live far away but I appreciated not having to walk in the rain! There was to be a bit of a gathering later for the volunteers. I didn't go as I was tired and didn't want to go back outside. Instead, I stayed in, had a sausage sandwich, and watched a few episodes of 'Bones' with my husband. I also found that I'd made another sale on Redbubble. I don't go on there much, haven't added anything for a long time, and this is my third sale in all the time I've been on it (which is some amount of years but I don't recall exactly). Of course, I am pleased to make a sale. Today, I'm still in bed and it's almost afternoon. I might build and paint some miniatures later (that's Warhammer Age of Sigmar miniatures). I have done some but still have more to complete. That reminds me, there's a new gaming place recently opened in town. This pleases me greatly. I've only been in once but will be there again. It's fantastic because it's something I enjoy anyway but some of the better places are far away. It's nice to see our 'ghost town' beginning to revive. It's reviving in a very geeky, arty, and community-centred way. I think I have a little free time over the next couple of weekends so might make a start on Christmas things. Then I'm doing more volunteering for Christmas shows and pantomimes. I'm waiting for my little niece and nephew to let me know some dates that I can do stuff with them. I've arranged a day with my big nephew to play games and things. We've also got a meal out with my best friend and another meal with my husband's family to celebrate a couple of birthdays (his sister will be 50, and his nephew will be 21). Before all that, though, it's my son's show next week. We need to call my step-daughter as it's our middle granddaughter's birthday next week. It's also my little niece's birthday the same day but we'll probably see/speak to her another time. That's me, so far. What's going on with you?