SHERINGHAM DIARY No 83 - A Decorative Companion.

I had Elon Musk down as the one man in the world who'd insist on calling a spade a spade, but no, he does employ spin doctors. So the complete destruction of his SpaceX Spaceship rocket, in a catastrophic explosion, gets described as - A rapid unscheduled disassembly.

So, someone in Liberty's product development department came up with the idea of this pocket mouse. A 'head turning home addition'. Probably shocked themselves at their own asking price of £85 Liberty sent it to a copywriter with a note to really do a number on it to make the price seem eminently reasonable. So the firming sawdust stuffing becomes a 'shredded pine wood interior'. Just imagine how it will transform your life, enhancing your 'lack lustre living spaces' or best of all becoming your 'decorative companion'. With its 'patina that grows and evolves over time'. I mean, everything ages? I have a wonderful mottled patina. We laugh, but this is utterly ridiculously nonsense.

I'm currently half way through Ai Weiwei's autobiography ( 1000 Years of Joys and Sorrows ) which is a pretty grim representation of what an unrestrained authoritarian government can act like. It does have its lighter moments. After ten years in USA he returns to China and begins organising provocative exhibitions of highly unconventional Chinese artists, including himself. One such exhibition he calls  FUCK OFF! which was translated into Chinese as - Uncooperative Attitude.

Apparently, though I have not viewed this for myself yet, there is a new game show on ITV called In With A Shout, whose premise is so simple minded one wonders which boy genius came up with it. They show you pictures of things and you have to name them. That's a K for carrot.

Mostly we are still doing half days between us to minimise the stress of the shop. We are on day seven of a thirteen day stretch of working everyday part of the day. With two bank holidays in this period, one being the Coronation weekend. In the middle of this we are also doing an Artisan Market in Sheringham as part of the town marking the crowning of Chas3 & The QC.

Setting up a craft stall and running a shop alongside it, makes for a very full day.  It's not without its unpredictable aspects, one being the weather. In this case it also raises concerns over how many folk will turn out. Personally I'm tired, my back has been bad all week,  I've also been having a poor run of sleep, a combination never good for my mental states. I become emotionally tired of making all this effort. Two days off together with Hubby are actually a precious resource that helps keep both of us sane. So this Sunday morning, is marking the rough halfway point in this extended period of work stretch, and, well, my resilience is wobbling more than usual.

In the end it did prove well worth the effort, concluding a week of our best takings this year,so far. But boy has it been full on. Lots of pre planning is required for a stall, making sure we have enough stock, cash for a till, signage etc. Then on the day, off early enough to pack the car, go to the shop to fetch stock for the craft stall, take this to the fair site, unpack it all, erect the gazebo, the tables, the stock, then merchandise. I return to the shop, open up and spend the first hour moving the remaining stock around so it doesn't look gappy or empty. There then follows a full day in the shop or on the stall. The day concludes with all of this in reverse. By the time we get home we've been full on busy for a solid nine hours plus. A Chinese takeaway for tea, sit down, exhausti-pooped. Went to bed early, woke up wired during the night.

QUESTION - When is a peaceful protest not a peaceful protest? No placards? No Shouting of slogans? No inconveniencing of anyone?  Apparently now it is simply to turn up for one.