fair – Lessons I learned after I turned 30

A day of Communicare, Art and Crafts

Saturday morning

My alarm went off at 8am but I could barely move. I’ve only been back from my holiday for a day and went straight to work, on a Friday. After a week of wandering and exploring the Forest, London and Brussels (I will be attempting to put together vlogs to accompany my blogs, coming soon hopefully, if I manage to learn the basics of video editing, wish me luck!), I was in high spirits but oh my I was tired.

I was so close to not doing anything at all and have a rest day but my heart wouldn’t let me. I haven’t seen Kathy for a while and I promised to take her out for tea and cake next time I visit. She loves going out and about but after a recent fall she is not very mobile. If I were to hold her arm though and with the aid of her walking stick we could make it.

The Communicare Vintage and Craft fair was also on today, in Portswood. I thought maybe I’d skip that and go straight to Kathy’s but I haven’t seen the lovely Communicare people since I signed up to befriending and Bryony and I went to meet Kathy for the first time.

To make things worse, after a week of holiday and a week before payday I was pretty broke.

After arguing with my self, twirling and whirling in bed for a good half an hour I came up with a plan, sort of. I’d get up and get ready quickly, Uber it to the Fair and walk back home to save money. I could then head to Kathy’s. There were a lot of events in town on the day but I was too tired to attempt more.

I made it to the Fair when it had just started, at 11am. I was stationed at the entrance to welcome people in and ask them to guess the adorable Communibear’s favourite food to initiate conversation and it was fun as well.

I had the most fun and also bizarre couple of hours.

I got to talk to a lot of people and I’ve bumped into colleagues and lovely ladies from SingNow Choir I hadn’t seen for a while.

I watched Annie, Communicare’s manager interviewed by That’s TV Solent, a local TV channel and had a chat with the cameraman and interviewer about video editing.

A random man (who smelled of alcohol) thought I was Polish and came straight to me and asked for toilet paper. I don’t speak Polish but I managed to figure that out. Just before he left he asked for a selfie (!). That never happened to me before and I didn’t know what to do but agreed. I wondered whether that’s how famous people feel when strangers ask them for photos.

I had a slice of coffee and walnut cake and a quick wander in before I left. So many beautiful stalls including Sue’s wonderful flower arrangements.

It wasn’t too busy inside unfortunately as there were 4-5 major events running on the same day in the city, as I mentioned before but it looked great.

On my way back I decided to pop at the Spark and check out the Accessible Art Show. Amazing. Blog coming soon but here’s a flavour.

I then passed by Guildhall Square to listen to the live music (So: Music City Festival was on) but there were in between acts and setting up for the next performance. The Square wasn’t busy either.

After about an hour I made it to Kathy’s. I was a bit anxious whether she’d be OK getting out of the flat but as soon as I walked in her coat was by her side (though she didn’t know I was going today) and when I asked her if she felt well enough to go out she was so happy, her face lit I couldn’t possibly not at least try. Though her memory is not doing well she remembers the Shopping Mall and every time I ask her where she’d like to go, she mentions it first (she would love a cruise too, and a trip to Italy, her travelling spirit never goes away).

I helped her get her shoes on and slowly started moving. There are a few steps within the flat who she struggled with and she needed a minute or two to rest before we headed out. We stopped a couple of times for her to catch her breath but she loved it.

I got her some tea and cake and had a wander around West Quay. She finished all her cake and tea (It’s the first time I’ve seen someone enjoy their cake so much, taking her time to eat every single piece, mindfulness at its best, though I’m sure she never heard the term before but she definitely mastered it) watched people come and go, she had a chat with a random lady who sat next to her at a bench and smiled at everyone. I’ve never seen her so happy.

On our little walk we came across the ShopCreative fair but my attention was on Kathy I didn’t spend much time looking. It looked lovely though. It’s on all weekend if you fancy. The lovely Sarah is there with her gorgeous ceramic and glass creations.

I was worried on our way back as she got extremely tired and I held her whilst she leaned on a phone box to rest. But all good. We made it back home safe and she couldn’t wait until we go out again.

I hope she gets a wheelchair so I can take her further out. I wish I still had my car.

I came home feeling exhausted but happy. What a wonderful day it’s been. I treated myself to pizza and Netflix (the Maddeleine McCann Documentary is fascinating).

Now time to tackle my long to-do-list.

Happy Sunday!

Eleni

Blogmas day 2- the Etsy festive market

Sunday 2nd of December

Today it’s all about the Etsy Local Festive market. I love everything handmade, personalised, unique, creative and to have all the local creative talent under one roof is pretty special.

It’s the second year it’s been running and though I loved the first one, the venue was way too small and couldn’t spend much time on each stall. I hate it when others are behind me waiting, especially knowing there was a queue outside.

But this year it was held at the Spark, our University’s enormous posh modern establishment and I looked forward to it.

After my morning coffee, I sometimes wonder what I’d do with out it, I can’t function, I can’t speak to another human being until I had a sip at least, I got ready.

I felt like doing something different with my hair, I was aiming for wavy and ended up curly, not sure I liked it, but I never seem to get it right, maybe cause I don’t practise enough. Any advice ladies and gents would be very much appreciated!

And of course I couldn’t not wear another Christmas jumper. For the last 4-5 years I’ve started a few Christmas traditions I maybe one day will pass on to my family, if I ever have one, or inspire others to do something similar. One of them is to buy a new Christmas jumper every year. I threw away one or two, they reminded me of a darker time in my life I don’t need a reminder for but I have already a collection of 3-4. I can’t wait to get one for this year.

After a short stroll through the buzzing with people, Christmas music and beautiful smells city centre I made it to the Spark.

It was busy but there was plenty of space to browse each stall and I have made a couple of purchases. I’m trying hard not to overspend but it’s not easy, especially when it comes to handmade, just beautiful creations. And there was plenty. Hats, scarves, pins, cards, jewellery, candles and much much more..

I only took a couple of snaps…

And by far my favourite stall, though you may think I’m biased since I know Susan through work, was this. Have a look yourself. And if you want to see more this is her Insta page https://www.instagram.com/itsverysue/

I’ve known Susan for years but I somehow never knew she makes such beautiful creations. I’m always amazed when I discover something new about people, even more so when I see them every day. It just goes to show what a difference it makes when we stop for a moment in our busy lives to have a chat with friends, colleagues, even strangers.

Hope Susan doesn’t mind me mentioning a little anecdote she shared with me today. She doesn’t use her car often but today was one of the few time she needed it. And unfortunately she had a flat tire. Rebecca, a colleague I’ve known for a couple of years, offered to give her a lift and helped her unload her goodies at the Uni. Human kindness at its best. Rebecca is another lovely human I didn’t have the chance to get to know better, and she is leaving Southampton at the end of the week, but this is just an example of how many great humans live amongst us and that’s one of the reasons I still work at Solent. The people.

Another Christmas tradition I started a few years ago is getting a new unique, handmade ornament for the Christmas tree every year. I’m hoping one day to fill the Christmas tree with special decorations I accumulated over the years, each with a story to tell.

As soon as I saw this on Susan’s stall, I knew I had to have it. So here it is, this year’s Christmas ornament. I absolutely love it.

Tomorrow’s blog might be a bit late or I might post something shorter, as I’ll be at my last Touch event for 2018, this time at Hythe. If you are around and fancy listening to incredible, inspiring stories of every day people, you can grab a free ticket here.

Now time for dinner and get organised for next week. I need a Christmas tree, I still have to get Christmas gifts for the family and still haven’t sorted my outfit for the Christmas party!

Eleni

Cakes, Christmas, Crafts and bears: Communicare Vintage and Craft Fair

Saturday, 3rd of November 2018.

My first Communicare Vintage and Craft fair as a volunteer.

I’ve been before with my SingNow friends a few times. I still vividly remember the scrumptious slice of carrot cake I had the first time I’ve been and that’s where I got the hand-knitted peach hat from my brother Andi loved so much, he kept after climbing Snowdon because it reminded him of me and brought back with him to Ben Nevis a year later.

If you haven’t heard of Communicare before, is a great charity offering befriending, shopping, DIY, transport and other services to those who need it in Southampton.

I always loved the bi-annual Communicare fairs and now I got to be part of it. I’ve been volunteering with Communicare as an events assistant for a while now but since I unfortunately work full-time I can’t attend many of their daytime events, I couldn’t wait for the Vintage and Craft fair, the first event I could help out with.

I was asked to design a flier for it months ago and thanks to Canva, an online platform with free templates- I highly recommend if you want professional-looking leaflets and posters, I came up with this one:

After months, the day finally came. And I had such a wonderful time, I went home tired but with a huge grin on my face that lasted for days (well until Monday morning, when reality kicked in and I had to go to work and spend hours staring at spreadsheets).

I made it on time, I know, some of you may be surprised but I always make it on time for things I really care (getting a taxi also helped!).

Collecting the prizes for the raffle gave me the opportunity to meet and have a chat with all the wonderful stallholders. There was a great variety from antique items, to Beach themed crafts, Christmas decorations, jewellery and paintings.

I spent some time giving out fliers outside with Vicky who was dressed as a bear, adorable, and I was so happy some of the people I gave fliers to, a lovely man with his three daughters who promised to pop by after the girls had their nails done and two couples, amongst others, decided to pop in and see what it was all about.

After a little wander and some purchases- it was hard to resist- I had a break for some delicious cake, again it was VERY hard to choose because of the endless options but I went for banana and chocolate. Yum!

I spent the rest of my time manning the stand for the impressive hand-knitted Nativity kindly donated by Bob ( I think, apologies if I mixed up the names) and selling our wonderful Communibears, of course I bought one too, they were too cute not to, and hand-knitted hats and scarfs.

I loved everything about it. The atmosphere, the live music, Jim Rogers (I can’t believe he sang one of my favourite Ryan Adams songs, Come Pick Me Up is a tune) and Serena Lin, who initially thought a CD was on, she was that good, were incredible, the stalls and all the lovely people I got to meet (and of course lovely people I already knew such as the wonderful Barbara, I love that lady so much, one of the nicest people I’ve ever met).

I’ll never forget Margaret, a retired teacher who went around to sell more teddy bears and ended up buying one for a little girl, she then bumped into one of her students from 30 odd years ago who told her she was the best teacher she ever had. After she took a picture of herself and her student’s family all together she asked her if she could record her saying that she was the best teacher she ever had. The joy in her face was indescribable.

Margaret was just one of the many wonderful humans I had the pure pleasure of meeting that day. There are too many to list and it’s impossible to remember all the names, but every single one made me feel welcome, something I always worry about as an expat living in the UK.

I wish I got to do this every day. Spend all my time making people smile. Maybe one day I’ll start my own charity to do just that. Who knows. Maybe…

In the meantime, I can’t wait for the next Communicare event. Thank you to the lovely Annie, Bryony and everyone else at Communicare for letting me be part of their wonderful charity and help a little little raising money for such a noble cause.

Eleni

PS Communicare is always looking for more volunteers, so if you fancy joining this beautiful community, or you’d like to donate or attend future events, all details are here.