ONE week!

This time next week we will be preparing ourselves for the second installment of the sale, let's just hope we have enough goods left over from the morning so as not to leave too many disappointed customers from across the city.

We've reached the stage where some of us are really starting to feel the time pressure of finishing and pricing items with a week to go. I am swinging between absolute confidence that all the items will sell and the sale being a massive success to having to take mountains of lovingly handcrafted items home with me and having no money to hand over to our two charities.

Needless to say, the reality will be somewhere between the two. There are people who have packaged their items so beautifully that they could hardly fail to sell them, whilst some people are putting items in even lower than the suggested £3 mark which will obviously please the youngsters with pocket money and the more frugal customers out there. There is no reason why the sale should not be a success, we have all worked hard to make sure there is something to sell, the event has been well publicised across the city and Trago have kindly promoted us in the Lounge. They have also agreed to give a verbal notice of the event at quiz night on Monday which is perfect as they have about 100 customers in so it will reach a wide number in one hit. On Sunday evening I am giving a little 'spotlight' interview at Highfield Church which will reach another large number of people, many of whom have some level of disposable income and will have a desire to support the ward and CLIC so ... what on Earth am I worrying about?

Let's stop thinking about next week for a moment and focus on today shall we?
Being half-term, we always expect a depleted number of adults and an increased number of miniature crafters.
My littlest and her best buddy sat and knitted together (yes ... KNITTED, at 6 years old) between playing with baby N and drawing and colouring with some of their friends.
I and Alison managed to knit about 4 rows between us, not what you might call a roaring success but hey, Friday mornings are about more than what we actually craft.
Claire is feeling the time pressure to get her cross stitch ready for the sale, that said, it is looking really good and looks close to completion to my untrained eye.
Marion and Lesley sat together, I wasn't aware of what they were working on but I know both of them are experienced in knitting for charity and we're excited to see what they show up with next week.
I saw Sarah, but not to speak to sadly. I do hope she is okay at the moment.
A lady called Brenda came along with Sharon to see if this might be the kind of thing they'd like to spend their Friday mornings doing. Hopefully we showed them that it's a very relaxed affair and that they would be really welcome?
Emma (Coffee) pitched up with Sheena (Mum) and E, her youngest. She's looking shattered, but with W nearing the end of round 4 (ding ding) of his chemo, all of the strength they have used in dealing with this, and all of the emotion of the last four months can finally start to come out.
I saw Jilly too, and Carol, I am sure there were more but my brain is SO not good at remembering who I've seen and what they were up to ...

Suffice to say, there was a healthy number of people there this morning, a lovely atmosphere in spite of Trago undergoing some home improvements, and a sense of anticipation of next week.

If you read our blog, and find yourselves in Southampton next Friday, DO come along to the sale. Even if nothing takes your fancy, Trago Lounge sell really good coffee, tasty cakes and have such a chilled ambience that you'd be mad not to pop by.