to buy a fat hen.
Come with me come with me,
come home again.
I don't actually know if those are the correct words to the little nursery rhyme tune that I remember vaguely from my childhood, but those are the words that come to mind when I reflect on our country market experience yesterday...
... lets just say my first market experience was an interesting one!!
My day started with bleary eyes as I started my car engine to hit the road at 6.36am exactly. Just ever so slightly early!! Then off down south to a little country town called Dwellingup, via my friends Tammi & Bron's houses to pick them up. A little nervous laughter ensured that the drive down went much faster than anticipated, (And it's not because I was speeding - honest!!) so we got down to Dwellingup in good time.
I had no idea what to expect when we arrived!
Admittedly I hadn't really done my research on the market. Bron had sourced the market and I just went along with it. I knew it was being tacked onto a mountain biking event - but I had no idea of the scale of the event and really what kind of event it would be. I had not thought much about it!!
Um.
It turned out to be a HUGE mountain biking event!
The scale of it was quite a shock to me - Riders everywhere. Well organised. A national (possibly international) event for such an otherwise small sleepy town
We were literally tacked along side the mountain bike start/finish line.
There were a LOT of people around when we arrived...
BUT they were primarily of the male, biker, muddy, sporty variety.
Not exactly our target market for our stall of pretties.... LOL...
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| Tammi & Bron with our stall. |
So there weren't really a lot of potential punters.
But there was a lot of this:
and a lot of these...
And while there were no hens at this country market, there was some interesting wildlife...
 |
| A horse of a dog we encountered... |
I don't know if you can read that truck but it reads "the Dunny Doctor".
I thought it was a very Australian name, not to mention a pretty funny one. - And as you may be able to guess - all the people overloaded the poor parks toilet system!
So it was an interesting day!
But even though there weren't many punters I think all three of us would agree that it was well worth going. We each made sales which was quite good considering the crowd of buyers (or rather lack of), but more importantly we had a lovely laid back day together chatting in the (occasional) sunshine. To me it was worth it just to have a day with good friends (and no interruptions from my children)!!!! And definitely a learning curve for all of us for next time, which was half the intent!
On the way back we meandered slowly back and took the opportunity to check out some second hand/antique shops. We found this pretty (among other things)...
But the owner clearly knew it's worth and it was a little out of my price range!
I do have one regret for the day though -
My choice of shoe!...
New cute little pumps, lots of mud and a cold wind did not a happy tootsies make! I really wish I'd worn shoes and socks!! (Or wellies/gumboots). So if I shall ever crazily enter myself into such an event again I will remember that nugget of info for next time.
Last night I finished off the weekend by spending the night having a girls movie night with 2 of my good friends. And our kids I might add, so not a lot of movie got to be watched by the time they interrupted us every 5 minutes from their movie in the room next door. But my headache can testify to the fact that I enjoyed myself with my friends (and a glass or two of wine) to wind down from the big day. I'm really not sure if the headache is from the wine or the noise that all our children make when they get together to be honest LOL....
Home now after a big weekend and back into routine tomorrow. I think my girls and definitely I will be pleased to be back in our own bed tonight after 2 nights away!
Hope you also had a wonderful weekend!!
12 comments:
Good on you for trying out the event, you never know, i did one little market event like that & had one customer spend $250 in one hit (out of about $400 in sales) so that made it worth it for me. Do invest in gum boots, even if you leave them in your car. I find in Canberra, they are essential as they insulate your feet from the snow/ frost/ frozen ground & are soooo comfortable. I bought new ones for the Winter, Laura Ashley, so pretty, you can still do the jeans inside them only instead of trendy riding boots, they are gum boots, bliss. Love Posie
PS i always get a post market headache, part exposure to the elements, part smiling so hard all day, part laughing & part panic.
Oh I am glad that despite the lack of punters you sold stuff and had fun.
Your table looks great!
If you are able to, I highly recommend the Baldivis Country Fair in November. I did a stall there last year and I'm booked in for this year too.
Every year the foot traffic numbers are awesome and the timing (6 weeks or so before christmas) is perfect for people buying gifts.
:) Lela
It sounds like a fun (albeit long ) day. Glad you made some sales.
That horse of a dog is smaller than my Indy. Imagine having two of those....we do!
Sorry the market wasn't quite what you expected, but congrats on the sales!
Congrats on the sales!
Sounds like a nice day though despite the mud. Defiantly hunt down some wellies! I have been lusting after a pair of Hunter Wellies... don't know if I could ever justify the price though.
We had a super fun day didn't we :) I still cannot get over how much like home the drive there was..just gorgeous and making this girl just a tad more homesick.
LOVED spending time with you and Bron...that was definitely the highlight of my weekend.
x
Markets are hard to predict aren't they. Glad you had some sales but like you said it is always nice just to catch up with the friends and have a day out. I have markets coming up in Sept and Oct that I will have to do on my own as my friend is away overseas till Nov. That will be hard I think :-) Goodness that dog was bigger than my pony!
Oh no! At least it seems like you had a good time. I'm surprised the manly bikers didn't bring lady friends with them. While waiting they'd have nothing better to do than shop at your stall :) Wishful thinking, I guess.
I feel like the Aussie girl that led the Kiwi girls astray...hehe
Thanks for jumping in and going along for the ride...thought you might have shared about your first sale!!!
Looks like you had a fun day out despite everything! And it seems there is more for you to tell us... ;-)
Oh, and I simply adore those pumps - where did you get them from?
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