Happily Ever After
Life in The Rural Retreat with a beautiful wife, three cats, garden wildlife, a camera, a computer – and increasing amounts about running
Earlier posts can be found on Adventures of a Lone Bass Player, where this blog began life. Recent entries can be found here.
A Successful Day
by admin - 18:01 on 19 November 2011
Christmas must be just around the corner – the market I attended today was the most personally lucrative by a long way. Only one copy of The Bumper Book of Black Isle Snappery found a new home (although three had been mailed earlier) but two of my A4 prints were snapped up by eager shoppers, as well as several cards.
The two-hour market in Culbokie netted more cash than two hours aboard the good ship GNoME; if only it were always so.
Close-up portraits of Mrs Marten and peeking Bess arrested the passage of several passers-by who stopped to coo over them – then leave without buying. There's no accounting for customers. However, a jaunty robin and a galloping red squirrel, being offered to the public for the first time, tempted visitors to delve inside their purses.
A print sale remains a thrill; not for the money (although I'll never turn it down) but because it means that someone enjoys something I've made enough to want to take it away with them. Most satisfying.
Next Saturday's market, at Strathpeffer, is being promoted as a Christmas special, so with luck I'll be even busier. The Epson should be active in the next few days, adding more cards and prints to my stock.
The Rural Retreat was empty when I returned, as Matchgirl was out helping a friend buy a car. Spending other people's money is almost as good as spending her own. So Bess and I took a stroll into the neighbouring woods to while away some time.
The most exciting sighting was the rear end of a deer disappearing into the shrubbery, just three minutes' walk from the Retreat. I know they're around but this was the first time I'd seen one – a glimpse, maybe, but I'd seen it. Maybe the foxes will be next.
No martens visited overnight, which happens occasionally; their food was untouched, which meant the Bushnell had a quiet night. To prove that it really does capture moving martens, here's a clip from a few weeks back that I've just posted on Flickr, complete with unsuitable music.
It's called Left Bank Two. You probably don't know that but you're sure to recognise the tune.
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