Holidays and Bears

Well we are back from our hols! We came back last Saturday after a very sunny week in Northumberland. Dunstan Hill near Craster to be precise.
A few posts ago I mentioned that we were having a major con flab on holidays and I would fill you all in at a later date.
Well, here goes..........................................
We are relatively new to the holiday scene, due to lack of funds LOL (the story of our life)
About 6 years ago we were invited by friends to go to a local coastal resort for a week in a static caravan, this was through the Sun newspaper.................now for those un-initiated the Sun runs "collect tokens" scheme and have 4 days holiday for £8.50 each.
The second year we went to Pitlochry in Scotland and that folks was my down fall, ever since then hubby has refused to go to anywhere other than Scotland. Since then our beloved dog Em passed away and we became a new mum and dad to Dixie, now Dixie is terrified we will leave her and to be honest she does need to see a doggie shrink!!! So we bought a caravan and tow-car, an oldie but in decent shape.
We return to Scotland and visit more stunning scenery, until this year when a forced "credit card ban" and an "I will save" attitude made us take a long look at how we paid for things. It was then I realised that having to holiday in April due timing of exams (daughters) there was not enough time to save the extra petrol for Scotland.
There then ensued a full scale war over a 3 week period
.......................the dilema..........where to go????????
I have to say at this point, men can be very pigheaded when it comes to getting their own way
Eventually we settled on Dunstan Hill, its half way between Berwick and Newcastle,
it was simply beautiful, about a mile from the most glorious beaches, real fine sand, none of that gravel stuff, the weather was great and we walked miles and miles.
The picture above is Dunstanborough Castle
AND the one below, do you recognise it, I did. I was very proud of that fact.............
..........................its were Harry Potter learnt to play Quidich

Otherwise known as Alnwick Castle, were the exterior shots are filmed

...................on the whole he (hubby) was well behaved but did have a wee tantrum on the tuesday........................not bad really, LOL

As for bears, well I have just updated my website with a whole host of new bears for sale
FenBeary Folk

This is Bryony

and this is Isobella

Nottingham Bear Fair

The day dawned with some trepidation, I dare not peak out of the window. My last fair I could not make due to a white out blizzard and believe me its was such a disappointment, especially when you just love talking to all those fellow bear lovers. I needn't have worried it was a bit cloudy but no snow.

I arrived at Patching's in good time, finding the roads quite empty and with all the eagerness of a child, set about unloading the car..............well my daughter did the unloading, I do the talking. We were placed in the log cabin, as Patchings has two area's, the log cabin and the pavillion, not too far from each other. There tends to be lovely atmosphere in the rooms, this is mainly down to great artist that take part and the fact the fair has a small intimate feel, not too overwhelming. Patching is a great place to hold the fair, for those long suffering non-bear lovers are catered for, yes I know there are a few, my poor dad is one of them. There are numerous art studios which include painting, textiles, jewellery and their resident bear maker Maria of C & M Bearhugs, so you see quite a lot to see and do.

I am straying away from the day, as the time drew near opening, the excitement built and we were not disappointed as this fair never fails to draw a crowd of eager collectors and visitors. Within minutes I was knee deep in conversation ranging from tax and book keeping advice to bear making and not forgetting the ooohhs and aaaahs. I have to mention my fellow bear makers here because the bears were just stunning. Vicki of Baggaley Bears had bought a few of her new sized 5 inch bears and believe me they are just the cutest thing you can ever imagine.

Kaz Bears, aahhh I just love her oldy worldy bears, they have a timeless quality that ooze take me home. A newcomer to fairs was Eunice of E M Bears, talked into it be your truely !!! She had a superb day and her bears and creatures were flying of her stand, including a lovely cat called Sasha, who went home with my mum. Sue Quinn and Barabara Ann Bears also had such wonderful display and bears, in fact I could fill a whole book on all the wonderful creations that I saw. I ended my day very tired, very happy and, of course, with a few pieces of mohair.

This little girl is Isabella, I will be putting her on my website tomorrow.

Her adoption fee will be £45 +p&p

This is Amelia, she is available from my website.

Her adoption fee is £45 +p&p

Amelia

Disappointments and Gifts

Oh Boy have I had a week of it and to be honest my latest adventure or non adventure was too upsetting till now to tell you about.........................ok lets start at the beginning, where all good tales should start.
The Friday before last we had cavity wall insulation installed, its great, you get a grant and your electric company contributes leaving a balance of £129-ish to pay. The guys who fitted it were noisey but nice and I think it was worth it. I had booked the day off plus the following week off, so was looking forward to it. My first disaster was my daughters laptop, having been "away" at the menders for months it finally came home, to daughters delight. First things first......................full internet security, so I got an all singing dancing Kapsersky program, loaded it onto my pc fine but when I went to load it onto the laptop, it wouldn't download properly...............when it was finally sorted, I had a run issue, followed by a Windows Vista problem.....................you get my drift!!!! 8 calls later, being cut off 3 times, I lost the plot and I mean really really lost the plot. I rang sales and demanded to make a complaint. Now I will give them their due, I had a manager liaise with me and a technician call me and sort everything......................................time taken 6 hours.............um...............deep breaths.

The following days were a bliss of bear making magic, as Kelham Doll and Teddy Fair was on the Sunday. Oh mustn't forget the 2 hour fight with the laptop to load iTunes, but hey I knew that would be to the death, we have battled before and a trip, clothes shopping to Lincoln.
Anyway Sunday drew close and I was all ready for the fair, now you have to understand I looooooooooooove fairs, the chatting, the collectors, the mohair, just getting excited talking about it. I do 5 a year..................Kelham and Nottingham, so hopefully by now, you are getting the picture, they mean so much too me.

Got up Sunday and guess what SNOW, white out blizzard actually, I waited and waited hoping it would stop but NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO. I had to cancel, I was so upset I barely said a word all day and believe me that is very rare. The icing on the cake has to be my husband, you see we do own a 4x4 but I have never driven it. After I had cancelled, my "dear" husband offered (begrudgingly) to take me, by which time it was too late to get there and set up.
I have to admit, between you and me, I sobbed, great big ones, when I went to bed.

So I have a few bears that missed their limelight, I have added a couple to my website.

This is Cappuccino, he is about 14 inches tall and I adore him, every now and again, any bear maker will tell you that they make an extra special bear......................one that has the X-factor, well Cappuccino has it.

I got the material from a very dear kind friend Jean of Little Scruffs
She very kindly gave me a piece, wasn't that lovely of her.
Thanks Jean xxxx
PS I have just noticed Jean is having a little competition, so if you fancy a Little Scruff pop over to her site and enter.

His adoption fee is £70.00 plus p&p
He can be found on : Old Style Bears

This little girl is Beatrice, so so sweet. I have listed her on ebay and she will end about 9pm Sunday 28th February.
She is about 4 inches tall and gorgeous

Ebay

Well I hope you are all safe and warm, wherever you are.
Beary Hugs
A heartbroken Sue
xxx