June recap, a Labradoodle health warning and what’s happening in July?
Hello all. I feel the need to apologise for
making the good weather go away with my smug optimism in last months post. It’s the 1st of July and it’s raining. Urgh.
Anyway, what a great month June has been. Our garden bloomed, the diva that is our peony kept us waiting for weeks and then exploded into spectacular colour for about 7 days before bleeding petals all over the garden. Our veggies have shot up with the perfect combo of sun and rain and the mysterious feathery blooms that appeared, turned out to be alliums which I am thrilled about. I can’t wait to see them again next year.
It’s been a fantastic first month for Baere, I think I have a handle on what’s popular, fabric and product wise. You lot love monochrome and you certainly love a wash bag, a storage bin and a baby bib! It’s been fun to see my products all packaged up and heading off to their new homes but the most enjoyable thing for me has definitely been doing my first stall. 
It was a small gig which suited me perfectly as it gave me chance to assess what I need, how to set up etc but it also gave me the chance to talk one on one with my customers which was fantastic. It made a huge difference to see people picking the products up and inspecting the quality. I got some great feedback, made some sales and came home inspired to do more. I think having a stall is the way forward for me so that I can interact with my customers face to face. I love faces!
The Farsley Community Weekend took place last weekend and it was a roaring success. I hope I haven’t clogged up your Facebook and Instagram newsfeeds too much with pom poms and Farsley frivolity but for me and the rest of the team of volunteers, it was totally worth all of the posting, liking, sharing and tagging. We raised a lot of awareness of the event and we brought huge crowds out into Farsley on Saturday and into the park on Sunday.
The theme of the weekend was textiles which is obviously why I couldn’t help but get involved. When one of the team suggested making as many pom poms as possible and hanging them from the church tower, I knew I was in good company.
I had more ideas about fabric bombing and yarn bombing the village and therefore have spent every spare minute over the past few months chained to either a pom pom maker or my sewing machine. I held workshops with local community groups like the brownies and the beavers, another member of the team helped by getting the schools involved and between us, the rest of the team and our fantastic community, we made well over 1000 pom poms, over a hundred flowers and some pretty random bench, tree and lamppost wraps. Even the Husb got involved although he typically had to go too far and made two pom poms that were bigger than his head. Anyone who knows him will appreciate how big they were!
On the Saturday, the community came out in their droves to explore the village. Starting at the farmers market with the mesmerizing drum extravaganza, Drum Machine, the day was filled with activities and exploration around Sunny Bank Mills, Springfield Mills and the rest of Farsley. The ethos of the festival was that a family could come out for the whole day and be engaged and entertained without having to spend a penny. We achieved that and are so grateful to the businesses of Farsley for making that happen.
On Sunday, we held a picnic in the park with inflatables, a brass band, craft tents, food, ice cream, and more exploration and activities. The sun came out for us and made it the day extra special. Families and groups of friends spent the whole afternoon chilling in the park with us and everyone had a fantastic time. We really couldn’t have asked for a better day. Here are a few things I did to bring some colour to the park and to echo what we did on Saturday on Town Street. The wonderful photo boards were painted by local artist Mel Davies. We just pommed them.
June also brought a little bit of drama to our little family unit. Our Labradoodle Albert, decided to show his greedy lab side and raided our kitchen bin, eating some corn on the cob husks. We didn’t realise he’d done it until he started being sick every day for a few days in a row. He was eating grass and vomming which although isn’t unheard of, it’s unusual for him. When we spotted a piece of corn on the cob husk, we knew he might be all blocked up inside. Poor Doodle. A costly trip to the vet followed, Albs was sedated, shaved and x-rayed and scanned and we were given the all clear. He had obviously been trying to dislodge that one piece of corn and had finally managed it. He was feeling very sorry for himself, coming round from the sedative. We obviously did what any good dog parent would do and took pictures of his cute little shaved belly and made him wear a comedy t-shirt so he didn’t scratch. You have to get some joys when you’ve just spent hundreds of pounds on your silly mutt because of a piece of sweetcorn. Right?
SO, June was great, the sun shone briefly and until the whole Brexit fiasco (which I can’t talk about, we’ll be here all day) we had fun, I made stuff, sold it and made more.
July brings a holiday for my little team. My husband is out in Mexico for a week, his sister is getting married and I am gutted not to be there, but I’m incubating a small human and the risk of Zika virus is too high for me to even consider risking it, no matter how much I love Mexico, and more importantly, my sister in law. Anyway, we have a holiday cottage in Wales booked for when he gets back. I can’t wait, we’ll take the doodle on the beaches, eat ice cream and play silly games. I’m looking forward to a bit of down time.
Have a great July everyone, that’s an order. Tell me what you’re up to, holiday season is upon us!
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