January 2014….candles, chickens and Seth Lakeman

January 24, 2014 by sam

We started the Christmas festivities off with an “Abigail’s Party” party on December 14th. Everyone had to come in a suitably disgusting outfit (embracing polyester) and bring something for a 70’s buffet. Consequently all the men looked like 70’s porn stars and we consumed far too many calories in the form of curried eggs, trifle, vol-au-vents, Coronation chicken & quiche….*pukes*

Not to mention Snowballs, Babycham, Cherry B & lots of fizz (the red wine went in the fridge) Helene (style guru) managed to pick up this dress for 50p from a local charity shop…. I has to stay well away from any naked flames!

PP just wore one of his normal outfits & nobody could tell the difference! He loves a bit of cord….

See what I mean….? Pure porn!

Well, we all managed to get through Christmas without too much upset, caught up with lots of friends and I managed trips to Buck’s, Brighton and Cornwall. Get me! Little Miss sociable! Christmas Eve was spent with pal’s in our village, Christmas morning at Maidencombe beach for the traditional run into the sea, then chilling at home with Grandad & Boxing Day off to Shaldon to watch the annual three legged race (visiting each pub along the way – them, NOT us) & catching up with the family!

My Christmas crockery got a wash & an airing……….

But is now back in the cupboard, Christmas just goes by too quickly don’t you think? Now I am back to reality & had my first show at Exeter Uni. yesterday (a bit quiet but always a good opportunity to catch up with everyone) I already have an order for 20 jelly moulds and am doing a new range of candles in vintage tins (easier to post around the country) I’ve been booking fairs and writing cheques and re-stocking my crates with some lush new concoctions (Lime & Pomegranate, Oats, Milk & Honey, Orange & Ylang, Caramel Latte)

What do you think?

My next fair will be the wonderful Tavistock Vintage on Feb 22nd in the Town Hall (free entry) always a good one if you want to catch a glimpse of the gorge Seth Lakeman (swoons) and his equally gorgeous wife! On March 22nd I’ll be doing “Crikey at The Castle” in Exeter, an exciting new venue for this well established fair.

And on March 29th I’ll be at The Vintage Bazaar in Hartley Wintney, Hampshire, & will get to catch up with the lovely Kitty – always a bonus! Back to my chores for now then….I’m on a mission to get my kitchen tidy and sorted….always! Check out all the eggs from my happy hens, who look a bit different from the day PP brought them back from the battery farm and have laid all winter!

a new car, candles, Cornwall (& the rest…)

August 16, 2013 by sam

It’s been over two months since I last posted anything but I’m afraid that all has not been rosey in the “Sunshine” house! Killerton was loads of fun, Shelley did a fantastic job and got over 6000 people through the door, I sold lots of candles and there was a cocktail caravan there too – perfect!

This is my stall at Littleham fair (near Exmouth) on July 6th. How appropriate that I should be in a Pimms tent. It was a gorgeous sunny day & great to see a traditional country fair in full swing. One of the visitors to my stall worked for a big candle company (Yankee Candles) in Bristol and said that I had the scents of my candles just right! Praise indeed.

After many requests I finally ordered the boxes and got some tealights made up. Each box contains 12 candles (in refillable cups) each one has a 5-6 hour burn. 72 hours worth of candles for £12.95 can’t be bad. Anyway, they’ve sold out (mainly because I delivered a huge amount to Rocombe Valley Retreats) but I’ll take that as a good sign! I had to enlist the help of my pal Helene for a frantic clean-up operation as a photographer and journalist descended on my house a few weeks ago. I’m going to be in a magazine called “Style at home” in Spring 2014 – exciting!

We managed three nights in The Lizard at the end of July (one of our fave places) the weather was glorious, the beaches were pretty empty (Praa Sands above) and the Roskilly’s Ice Cream Cafe held as much interest for us as ever. On the way back the clutch went in the car so we ended up in a tow-truck back to Devon, there was so much wrong with it that it wasn’t worth fixing so we’ve bought a big, beautiful, beast (in my fave colour) mpg is hideous though so not sure how long she’ll be around……did I mention that my phone crashed too? And I lost all my contacts? If it’s not one thing…….

Unfortunately I had to pull out of my two August fairs (Portscatho and Tavistock) but I can confirm that I will be at the next Portscatho fair on November 17th and the next Tavistock fair on November 24th. My next fair will be The Vintage Bazaar in Hartley Wintney on September 21st and until then I have a few weeks off to prepare a huge jelly mould order (40!!!!) and start to think about the “C” word (Christmas obviously!) Don’t forget my candles are available at Porters of Station Road, Bovey Tracey, The White Approach, Exmouth & Honeysuckle Homes, Torquay if you need to get one for a present. You can also contact me directly through facebook or my website. See you soon x

Royal Candles (of a fashion…)

April 11, 2013 by sam

Apologies for not blogging since the end of Feb (!!!!) but it’s been a little hectic here at Peagreen HQ. Into my fourth year and used to having Jan & Feb as a quiet time to catch up and get sorted, I had no such luck this year and was straight into orders & busy fairs!

Saw this gorgeous Morris Van in Exeter the other day whilst out bargain hunting and had to post a pic! My busiest fair this year was The Vintage Bazaar in Devizes, a new venue for Lizzie & Clare and to be honest a bit of a treck for us (3 hours) but it was worth it. Thank heavens I took my trusty helper Helene with me ‘cos we were flat out all day. We met some lovely folk and did lots of shopping – perfick!

My friend Kat was 30 in March and we secretly met up at a huge holiday cottage in North Devon, which we frantically decorated and piled the kitchen high with supplies (mostly of the alcoholic variety!) A great weekend was had by all – and yes, we did even make it out for a walk!

Love this picture of Kat and Amy (and Amy’s hat!) On March 12th Helene and I went to a brilliant lampshade making workshop run by The Craft Hub – always good to learn a new skill me thinks! (Especially when one is slightly obsessed with collecting vintage fabric!) An old 1960’s sheet makes a great lampshade don’t you know?

On March 16th I did “All things vintage and lovely” at The Palace Hotel in Torquay. Great venue and a busy day slightly marred by someone on the stall opposite who has decided (yawn) it’s a great idea to make candles in jelly moulds! Why can’t people be a bit more creative?????????? I’ve been making them since 2010 so it’s NOT a new idea…..think of something else!

On March 18th I had my little meeting with Paul Burrell – we had decided to rendezvous at Pip’s (The Craft Hub) as I haven’t seen her properly for ages and he was staying in a village nearby. Of course I was late (we were meeting outside) and by the time I turned up he was parked up and inside having a nice cuppa and a chat with Pip! He told us lots of juicy goss. and we both thought he was a very nice chap (and my candles are now available in his shop in Cheshire!) La-de-da!

I have also squeezed in a cold visit to Agatha’s “holiday home” (alright for some…………….?)

The Boat House at Greenway – all good homes should have one! And I even managed a girlie trip to Cornwall where the four of us, child-free and full of energy, consumed our weight in food and wine, danced around the house and LAUGHED…a lot

This was our house for the weekend (oh the joy of having a rich relative!) The sun even shone for a few hours on Saturday morning so we all rushed out in our pj’s armed with fresh coffee to make the most of it….

Even when it slipped behind the clouds we had a glorious view (below) and didn’t dare complain…we popped into Looe instead for coffee, cake and shopping!

Portscatho Homespun Fair was on April 1st and although it was rather chilly, it was great to catch up with everyone – next fair is The Vintage Bazaar in Frome on April 20th 9am – 3pm which I have never done before and am really exited about (apart from the 5am start!) x

candles, cars and feeling cold…..

February 26, 2013 by sam

…it’s freezing! It’s March on Friday and I am back to carb overload and the heating on full whack!

Last Friday my kids had an inset day so PP took the day off and we went to The Eden Project. As usual (too much coffee) I needed to stop and use the loo in Lostwithiel where I encountered this furry car….I have since found out that there is one in our village too – covered in astro turf…WTF? (am sectretly planning the recovering of my Citreon Picasso – I’m thinking tin foil…?)

I love Eden, the kids went skating & I did some herbal candle research and took some pix…

I particularly like taking pictures of doorways through doorways….what d’you think?

It was lovely and empty before the half term rush & we got “local” passes which were £7.50 each for the year – bargain! I sniffed my way around the herb garden and decided that thyme, orange & geranium would be a nice, new candle scent and I have come up with a satisfactory concoction today (actually, I had decided upon thyme & mint but Helene was here earlier and we made a joint decision to not produce a candle that reminded anyone of a toilet cleaning product!)

My next fair is The Vintage Bazaar on Saturday in Devizes, although I’m beginning to wonder why as it appears I will have to exit my bed at 5am!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The only blog I read religiously (I waste enough time already!) is that of the lovely Fee (of Chipper Nelly) and what did I spy with my little eye last week? She did a blogpost called “Another place” and I get a little mention don’t I? A little mention AND a little pic of the Pip Studio candle I made her! Bless….