Richmond Re visited

Fellow dealer and great friend Sandra , we met for tea and scones down the lanes in Richmond to catch up on family news, more relaxing than Ardingly when we were too busy buying and selling to relax
Richmond riverside is a delight , really funny for me as so much was familiar yet so much had changed! just along from here was the Italian shack David and I used to love in early 70's.

Henry V111's Palace is just down from here just off Richmond Green

this Heron was like a stuffed bird amongst the ducks and Canada geese , never moved !

Richmond boat builders are famous, I asked this one if he was building " Gigs " we race them in the West Country..no he says these are ancient Greek boats for a film circa BC !
I took a " Megatrain" to London to catch up with my son and see his new flat in Putney , look them up you can get amazing deals on trains, takes a bit of fiddling but I got a trip to London for £26 return.
I could not resist the opportunity to go to Richmond where I lived in 70's and where Lawrence works , so was able to meet my friend for afternoon tea and re visit old haunts, meet Lawrence after work and go a few stops on the train to Putney.

Franglais at Ardingly

Monday we collected our van and after a full morning of packing and sorting we were happy to get on the road and have a nice gentle drive to The Copthorne Hotel , we go the pretty route and arrive in time for a relaxing evening with our feet up ready for the next day.
The Hotel is only a few miles from the showground so makes life simple with a 4.30 am start and in the line of vans an hour later.
There is such a feeling of anticipation and this time it is dry but freezing freezing cold.
We always line and carpet our Shopping Arcade pitch and it makes a huge difference when you are in a muddy field for two days. Doormats and carpets welcome our customers and they love it.
We hung our gorgeous French fabrics this time , so much hopping about on tables with pegs for moi
Thanks Alex for the help xx
There were some wonderful things to be seen all over the showground , lots of decorative stuff, some amazing lumps of reclamation, it was really buzzy and busy ....we love it
the first day we were so thrilled to get back to a warm room and deep hot baths a glass of wine and room service, we were frozen to the tips of our toes but at least not wet like last time.
Second day was more low key, a lot of public will pay to be there on the first day with the Trade, second day we still had some good sales and the sun came out hoorah but the wind soooo cold.
Got packed up by 4.30 and headed home via Mac's our naughty little treat at Petersfield.
French stock went well , lots of shops buying from us . we won't be there in April as we are heading south on a buying trip so next time is July