Z for the end of the Alphabet

HUGE THANK YOU to all the people who left a note yesterday of where they were reading from - all around the world again - it's amazing when you stop to think about it. Just one old woman in a bungalow in a village in Mid Suffolk, writing nothing exciting but  being read by so many! Although I was right in saying there would be fewer comments than 2022 as 'only ' 166 this time!! Lots of people said they had been reading for a long time, thank you all again.

So it's the end of another November A-Z although I can't help thinking it was a silly idea to try and find 26 more A-Z things to write about after 2022 and 2023. It sort of fiZZled out at the end and maybe I won't try it again! 

November had lots of driZZley days and some very, very wet days - thankfully no snow in Suffolk.

During the month I got another jigsaw puZZle done. All pieces present and correct.

December posts around blogland are often Christmassy - I'm hopeful about getting some sorted. And I'm looking forward to reading Mary's (Trundling Through Life) posts. When I wrote about doing the A-Z through November, she said she had  A-Z Christmas blog posts already planned for December.

What wasn't Christmassy was staying at home all weekend instead of going to anymore village Christmas fayre/ fairs, the car had developed a crunching sound at every bump in the road so I called in to see my friends at the repair place and Ashley said "bushes". Now that's a word I heard in the past from Colin - when he did all our car repairs - it's a suspension thing so as it had been getting worse I thought it best not to drive anywhere yesterday or today. Hopefully it will be fixed on Wednesday as there are dentist appointments for a filling and hygienist coming up.

Tomorrow I'll open day 1 of my Coffee Advent calendar and swap the seasonal display on the top of the bookshelves from Autumn to Winter.

Y is for You (again)

In the 2022 A - Z 192 people left a comment with where they were in the world......192!!

 From Amsterdam to Australia and Canada to Colchester and all over the USA and the UK. It was amazing to see how far and wide readers of my ramblings were living. I think it will be hard to beat that number as page views are way down from 2022.

But I'll give it a go.................so ............. who are you and where are you? (Country or County - not your actual address!)

Did you comment in 2022? or have you only been reading more recently?

It will be fun to see.

The Alphabet ends tomorrow..............(thank goodness!)

X is for Xmas Fairs

 Not many things for X  so it's Xmas Fairs again! the same as 2023

With the end of car boot sales I find these are fun to go to, to get me out and about at the weekends, people to speak to, appreciating all the crafts, the chance of a nice find  and as promised in the F is for Fundraisers post I've been to several. Although strictly speaking................ 

The first, which was furthest away, wasn't fundraising for anything except the business putting on the event (Bridge Farm Barns) and the individuals selling their own antique/vintage and craft things. I enjoyed this event last year so it was good to go again and I  had a lovely look round and bought a couple of small things for a gift, the wreath that was on the W post and................

...................................had my first celebratory coffee and cheese scone in their café 😄

 The second was a small  proper craft fair, mainly stitched things, there wasn't anything I wanted but I bought a cup cake to take home to have with  my Sunday afternoon cuppa.

Number 3 was in Stowupland Village hall and I called in on my way back from shopping. I had a go on their raffle as they had 5 large hampers of food as prizes - but no phone call came 😞. I bought a small jar of fig, apple and balsamic vinegar chutney for £3 which sounded interesting - haven't tried it yet and found a copy of The Shropshire Lad and Other poems by A. E. Housman for 50p- I'm getting quite a collection of poetry books now - need to have a sort out.

The 4th was the 'Grand Christmas Market' held in the main hall of Stowmarket Leisure Centre. Much of the stuff for sale was tat! which was a shame as it made the proper hand-made items look very expensive. It was ever so busy. In 2023  I couldn't stay long as scented candles and other smellies set me off coughing but I was OK  to have a good look round this time, although I  didn't find  anything I wanted.

The fifth was advertised as a Christmas Sale with Charity stalls at the United Reformed Church in Diss on a Friday and as I needed to go to Diss for Morrisons anyway I went to have a look and spent £1 for three Christmas tree decorations from a stall raising money for Guide Dogs for the Blind.

Then I went round all the Diss charity shops and in the Big C Charity shop on my way out of town I found something for my friends Church fund raiser - The Nativity Scene display.

Christmas Fair number 6 is my favourite as it's in Son and DiL's village church and we've been meeting up at this since the Christmas after Col died in 2018. It's always packed with people and we have a cuppa and cake on wobbly tables - because the church floor is so uneven - drinks usually get spilled! -  and lots of goes on the tombola. This year I was the only person whose tickets won anything - and actually two useful things that will be used as part of Christmas gifts.  

 I bought one Christmas gift and forgot to take any photos.

The 7th I called into on my way home  after the 6th but bought nothing and there were other fairs I could have gone to Saturday afternoon and Sunday but the weather was awful and I'd spent enough so stayed at home. 

There's a choice of around 8 various fairs happening this coming weekend, but I won't be going to more than one as the car is in for repair to the suspension bushes next week so better not drive far.

There are several more fairs/fayres on the 6th of December and then the one-off Christmas car-boot sale on the 13th. Then it's just another two weeks until Christmas!

Back Soon

PS for readers from afar who often ask what a tombola stall is...........

In the United Kingdom, a tombola is a form of raffle in which prizes are pre-assigned to winning tickets. Typically numbered raffle tickets are used, with prizes allocated to all those ending in a particular digit (traditionally a five or a zero). Players pay for a ticket, which they then draw at random from a hat or tombola drum, and can instantly see whether they have won a prize. Tombolas are popular at events such as village fêtes and coffee mornings, when it is expected that not all the players will be present at the end of the event.