i'm grateful for 'Maxabella Loves'

Greetings all,

Exhaustion, elation & adding a bloggie friend to my real world life - that was my Handmade Market experience yesterday.  Exhausted from huge preparation for the market; elation it was it's usual amazing success with the 10 000+ strong crowd of handmade lovers; & the fabulous Maxabella Loves herself came to visit, with her gal pal (new to blogging & too embarrassed to name her blog, i'll hunt her down!!)  While their families watched the Trooping the Colour Parade around the corner (Canberra is ace for entertainment opportunities) the ladies went a shopping at the market & played with me.

My day didn't launch well, my 3rd girl woke with a migraine.  She had all the typical symptoms - headache, nausea, sensitivity to light . . . so i left for the market as late as possible after treating her with what my mummy used to do for me as a 10y.o. migraine sufferer . . . & carried her into the market in her jammies to rest while i set up.  The hero of the day is her best friend's mum who was taking the twins out anyway but insisted on caring for my unwell child at her house.  I packed her clothes just-in-case-of-instant-recovery-when-seeing-bestfriend & she did sleep, but also trampolined, ran around, ate 4 bread rolls & 2 sandwiches on top of morning & afternoon tea + milk shakes (nothing NOTHING puts her off her food).

Then the doors flung open & the crowds poured in.  A couple of hours later Bronwyn from Maxabella Loves quite literally leaped over my stall screaming "Jennie Jennie, it's me, i'm here" & we hugged, giggled & acted like old school friends.  There were 20 ladies around my stall laughing with us.  I knew we'd get along like a house on fire but she's so much larger than life, talks a million words a minute & well, is JUST LIKE ME!!  I think we actually hold back a bit on our blogs, perhaps frightened we'd scare you with our over enthusiasm for absolutely everything we embrace in our lives.  It went well, we've made another date for the school holidays, where we'll throw our children together & i get to show off my handsome soldier.  Thanks so much for coming Mrs Maxabella, it was sheer delight to meet you, cloak your jackets & share my handmade world with you. 

 I was tagging & setting up my display baskets up to the last minute & of course, forgot to take fabulous images of my pretty stall.  I took these after i had packed up half my goodies, argh!!  Check out the Handmade blog for amazing photos of the stalls by Tania McCartney.  Jealous, wish i had 'help' & could cruise around, shop, chat & take snap shots too.  Tania cleverly didn't have a stall, that's the trick!!

Oh yum, this hit the spot . . . Belgian waffles with homemade icecream & chocolate sauce, sprinkled with nuts & icing sugar.  I'll admit this was round two, round one (witnessed by Bronwyn) included a good dose of strawberries & was divine (i inhaled it); this deliciousness was just for my girls.  Mmmm.
So after the Handmade Market organiser's father (bless his sheep farmer's big heart) wheeled all my gear to my car & his granddaughter entertained my girls, who had been returned at the market end, i journeyed home.  No idea what was bouncing on my EFTPOS machine in the back of the car, but it sounded like we had a stowaway processing sales, beep beep beep, it was freaky!!  I unpacked the car, my no-so-well daughter showered & then we started on the trip to collect my son (at home of Shop Handmade owner's family, he told me i ruined his day by picking him up just as they were about to eat Chinese).  Last stop (after 7p.m.) . . . my eldest daughter, who spent the day with her friend-who-is-a-boy, after movies in city, they were at his place in Murrumbatemen - we were invited to stay for dinner, wood fired pizzas, i collapsed into a big leather chair & barely moved. 
By the time we got home, i had a huge headache (i do put pressure on myself to make the most of these amazing quarterly Handmade Markets, with 4 children & a husband away) so i went to sleep early - with 3 littles ones tucked in with me (??) & left my high schooler to do the evening rounds (lock doors, let puppy in, wipe down counters, blow out candles, tuck us in with a goodnight kiss - she's terribly reliable when she wants to be, she enjoys a bit of power!!) 

So grateful for my fabulous opportunities, children & friends, including hostess of 'I'm Grateful' Maxabella Loves.  Love Posie