Demonstrations

Today I did my third ever demonstration. You would think that with the more times you do it the easier it gets but I can honestly say after it was over I was thoroughly exhausted. I have to admire teachers and professional speakers.
My first ever demonstration was to a Depressed and Self Help group (DASH) There I got the ladies to try and make a bracelet. The one after it was at a Ladies Guild. I was led to believe that all I had to do was turn up and show off my stuff until I was introduced and then I realised that I would have to talk. The one I did today, I was under no illusion. I knew exactly what was expected from me and I have to say I was worried. I decided to go through all the questions in my head that previous customers have asked and I would try and work my way through them like I was telling a story. Once or twice I did lose concentration but on the whole I managed to keep going with only one or two lulls in my conversation. I didn't mind that though as it allowed me to concentrate on what I was demonstrating and as a result I managed to make another tiara called Elaine, that I can show off at exhibitions and to new customers. I was paid a fee and one of the ladies purchased one of my wire wrapped pendants and another lady promised to get in touch with me as she was looking for an unusual present for her sister. Here is a picture of the Elaine tiara, although the one I made today, I used cream swarovski crystals.

Thursday Night Ritual

Every Thursday .....ok being truthful here I shop everyday. Usually just for milk and bread and the odd treat for my teenagers. Strange how milk and bread and the few treats usually come to approximately £15 but that's another story. On entering my chosen Supermarket I head straight for the newspaper stand and pick up my favourite weekly paper. The Falkirk Herald. Now I take it home and I leave it on my kitchen table as I never read it till I get back home in the evening. After putting the rest of my shopping away. I feed my husband and see him off to work ( he works backshift) then I spend the rest of the afternoon at mums. I help look after my mum who is semi disabled. At about 5pm I return home, put on the kettle, make myself a cup of decaffeinated coffee, find something nice and sweet to eat, spread out my copy of the Falkirk Herald, find my reading glasses then loose about half an hour of my time just reading all the little and not so little stories in the Herald. I like to read from the front page on to the back although I don't spend very long on the sports pages. There is a couple of reason for that but let me start at the start. I also read all the intimations. Its sad, as the older I get, I find that there is more often someone from my past in the death columns. Also of course if I am doing a wedding fayre I like to see if it is advertised. Then my next favourite page is Letters to the Editor and In My View (usually a witty view on something that is happening in one of the reporters life). Then I like to read Family Matters to see who got married and who was born. I always get excited when I recognise the brides name and usually by checking my copy of the receipts I can confirm if the tiara or jewellery they are wearing came from me. Today was one of those exciting days. In Family Matters it tells you how the couple met, about the proposal, where the wedding was held, what the bride wore and who she would like to thank(usually parents). But for some reason they don't seem to think that the accessories are very important. So I am in a position today to let you know that the bride was wearing a silver plated tiara called Francesca (after my daughter). The central heart was rose and the rest of the tiara was a mixture of clear, light rose and amethyst swarovski crystals. It was really sweet looking. It looked a bit like this.
After the centre pages the rest of the newspaper can usually be viewed in about a few minutes. I do a quick survey of the jobs page in case there is anything my teenagers could apply for. Flick through the houses although these days not as quickly as I used to as one of my nieces is house hunting as she is getting married this year. Finally a quick shifty through the sports page to see if anything is written about my brother in law who plays table tennis but I get annoyed at the martial arts section. For some reason because the club my son is attached to is based in Alloa /Stirling region they never seem to want to write anything about them even though there are classes in this area. My niece who is 27 is a forth degree black belt and my son who just turned 20 attained his 3rd degree black belt and he often wins trophy's at competitions. But despite that I thoroughly enjoy losing myself in this large newspaper every Thursday evening.