I signed up for a couple of Christmas Fairs this year.  Last weekend I was at the Aboyne Playgroup Fayre in the Victory Hall in Aboyne.  I am pretty much a novice at setting up a table, but tried not to let it show too much.  I have a list, which helps.  It means I don't forget vital things like table cloths, sticky labels and pens and a flask of coffee.  Actually, there was free tea and coffee for the stall-holders at this event, which was great.  I managed to make not too bad a fist of setting out my stall, in the end (you can judge for yourself - photo above).

I'd been assigned a table at the top of the hall, next to the face-painting.  It was fun to watch a series of children be transformed into dogs, butterflies and (a sign of the times) angry birds. More fascinating, for the people-watcher that I am, was to see the personalities of these small beings, already well developed.  The confident ones strode up to the chair, sat patiently while the art was applied to their little visogs and then picked up the mirror to admire the results.  The shyer ones had a small motif drawn on their arm or hand.  And the shyest didn't want their faces painted at all.  Or perhaps it's not shyness; perhaps it's just the difference between extroverts and introverts.  The sparkly blue butterflies went out into the world (or hall, village, Deeside) saying "look at me, I am pretty!", whereas the unpainted ones did not wish to draw attention to themselves.  Perhaps they feel beautiful enough as they are. 

Santa's grotto was behind me on the stage, so I did not get a chance to observe the small people there.  But I could see the steps leading up there.  Again, it was fascinating to see what went on.  The small people who dragged mummy or daddy up the steps, desperate to tell Santa their wishes.  The mummys and daddys trying to persuade their offspring to to go and visit the man in the red suit with his long white beard and big black boots.  Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn't. I'm sure there were a few tears in that grotto.  But hopefully more smiles than tears.

This Sunday I will be at Redwood Winter Fair in Echt Village Hall from 10am - 5pm.  (The Fair is on both Saturday and Sunday, but I will just be there the one day).   There will be face-painting, I believe.  Hope to see you there!

Delighted to say that the new 2015 photography calendars arrived the other day.  I remembered to ask for them to be cellophane wrapped, which keeps them all nice and fresh and clean, especially if anyone would like to give one as  present.  I had a bit of a wobble (more like a wobbly) when I thought for a minute that I'd set the year to start in January 2014!  Eek!  Luckily the Calendar Printers I have used for the past three years are really helpful and responsive - a quick email to ask them to check my order resulted in a speedy and pleasant reply.  This solved the (nonexistent) problem.  
Both calendars are now available to purchase from the Calendars page.