Market Day Success

I had such a good day at the market today for many reasons. Here's my 10:

1./ I was with my friend Anna who checked herself into our B&B for some post move rest after selling her house. She's taking off to Europe for an unidentified length of time (so envious!)

2./ It was a beautiful sunny day but with a gorgeous wind (love wind) so my food didn't melt in the heat.

3./ I met this awesome girl with a stall beside me who calls her farm the Three Sisters - I was relieved to find out I am not the only one who thought she had two sisters (thanks Anna). Apparently it's a Farmer's thing. Beans, Corn and something else? She shared her logo in progress and I shared some merchandising ideas.

4./ I bought Tomatillos for the first time from this same girl and going to make salsa verde tonight as a pre-bbq snack. She also gifted me the most amazing rainbow colored kale.

5./ My husband joined me despite missing the Manchester United live game and put in an honest effort to enjoy himself.

6./ The woman who phoned in her advance order and picked up her goodies, is such a delight. She is always just so appreciative and really notices the little things that take effort. Thank you!

7./ We met a hunter who got his gear destroyed by the fires in the interior. This would have been his 49th year! So that we wouldn't feel too badly for him, he did proceed to tell us that last year he shot his quota (3 Moose!) in 1 1/2 hours. They had to stick around to eat their food they had packed before they could go home. Poor hunters...

8./ My old friend who I grew up with, Jed Craig, who also lives in Gibson's came by, asked me about Lavender (of which I actually know quite a lot about) bought some goodies and invited us over for a Bonn fire in the Fall. Who knew we would find paradise with our families two minutes away from each other. Love that.

9./ One of my repeat customers came back with her LL paper bag she bought something in previously to buy again.

10./ I made an enormous amount of Lemon Squares and sold every box! Finally with one weekend left before packing it up for a while, I made record sales!

An awesome three hours.

Happy Saturday everyone.

frog omen on market day

So today was my fourth day at the market. Packing up the car we had the marmalade stand left to go however there was a frog sitting right on it! He wasn't moving but Keith was able to nudge him along to a nearby plant. It got me thinking all day I needed to look up what this "sign" meant. In a nutshell: birth, re-birth, fertility, fruitfulness and creation. As well according to some European forklore good luck. Whatever the meaning, it all sounds pretty good to me!

Lady from Abbs Street

It was our second day at the market yesterday and despite a number of huge family getting it together challenges, it was a success. We are thrilled to have our permanent nanny arrive from Hong Kong but unfortunately it's a long weekend so Keith and her missed not only the last ferry on Friday night but also the first on Saturday morning coming back from the airport. This meant I was serving breakfast to b&b guests, baking goodies, taking care of Christian and packing up the car solo. Bad news is I got to the market with only an hour left to go :(. The good news everyone was already purchasing before I could unpack the car. It also looks like LL is going to get its first press too! A local pub has asked to do an article and take photos next weekend at the market - how great is that! This was good but the best part of the day was a woman I met who lives on Abbs Street. She was commenting on LL and mentioned she had a bunch of herbs in water in the back of her car to sell. I told her to pull up a chair and join me. She's been on the Coast since 81! We had a lovely visit and before I could give her a full attention, proper goodbye she was gone. In generous, small community fashion she left her herbs (look how huge the Bay Leaf is!) and flowers (they look beautiful on my sideboard). There's no way for me to thank her except for here. An impromptu moment made my day. I hope to once again meet the lady from Abbs Street.

Opening Day: Lessons Learned

DON'T

# 1 - Don't launch when it's the biggest event of the year (Sea Cavalcade) and the parade is diverting all traffic away from the market.

# 2 - Don't forget your prized cake at home by the door (notice the empty white plate).

# 3 - D0n't have a master price list. People like to look at each item and immediately know what it costs.

# 4 - Don't leave you 91 year old mum-in-law to man the booth while you go "pump" only to miss your first historic sale.

# 5 - Don't put your loaves in the sun with saran wrap. The condensation looks gross.

# 6 - Don't be embarrassed that the really nice lady running the stand next to you single handedly put up hers and your tent in a matter of minutes.

# 7 - Don't under price yourself. You're worth it.

DO

# 1 - Do focus on lemons - "what a great idea", " everyone loves lemons", "I was just saying I wanted something lemon".

# 2 - Do call yourself Laughing Lemon - "what a great name". It made almost everyone smile if not, laugh.

# 3 - Do offer breadth of products. Almost everyone bought more than one thing.

# 4 - Do cherish the friend who showed up and bought 25% of your sales and then went on to buy from other vendors to spread the wealth.

# 5 - Do dress your baby up in a little lemon onsie "what great marketing" (terrible I know but I promise not intended)

# 6 - Do mark down your perishables with five minutes to closing. I certainly shouldn't eat them!

# 7 - Do trade your goods with other vendors with two minutes to closing. It's good for the community.

# 8 - Do stop your truck and flag down parade watchers to give them your lemon lavender cakes on your way home.

# 9 - Do forgive your husband when he laughs at the $98. you made. It's better than the $50. I thought I did.

# 10 - Do pat yourself on the back. It's been a long day.