The Sedgefield Market - 2022 rolled in with some luck and magic

So we have embarked on the start of the New Year, how has it treated everyone so far?

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I've always had a strange relationship with the start of a year and find that the more hubbub you surround it in, often the greater your disappointment is when things go awry.

This year Lory and I spent New Year's eve with my sister, brother in law, my nephew and his wife and their little son. We had a wonderful supper together, wished each other Happy New Year early and we were all in bed before 10pm.

In the morning we embarked on an outing to the Sedgefield market where I plan on selling my candles. It was a beautiful day with lovely weather, everyone was in good spirits and the market was busy but it didn't have that oppressive hustle & bustle to it, the atmosphere was very relaxed, welcoming and festive.

We walked around a bit and found some lovely stalls including a soft toy stall where Lory found herself a fluffy penguin who is representative of Peso the penguin in the Octonauts.

I really like the feel of this market, it isn't full of mass produced imported plastic junk, it's an artisan market mostly. We found some lovely art including these Groot carvings from Guardians of the Galaxy ... Any fan of Marvel would want to add one of these to their garden.

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_{Handcarved Groot statues with moss hair}

I then went and found the office and asked who I could speak to about possibly signing up for trading later in the year. I was directed to a lovely lady called Jean and we had a chat, I showed her some photos of my handmade candles and my luck has clearly taken a turn for good because I've been accepted to start trading at the market and my first day is this coming Saturday. This is exciting and rather unexpected as I was thinking of only starting to trade in February this year. It seems the universe is now pushing me forward with great gusto and I'm certainly not going to resist it. I'm going to be trading at the Scarab Market.

I love the significance of this...in Egyptian mythology the Scarab or dung beetle is the beetle representing the Sun God Ra that carries the early morning sun to manifestation across daybreak. I think maybe that's fortuitous for me this year.

It's an interesting market with three different sections. The one area is called the Mosaic Market and there's also a mosaic garden where we found this beautiful octopus and orca that Lory fell in love with.

These are sizeable mosaic installations. I've done some 2D mosaics and I know how much work goes into them, these ones probably took a fair amount of time and definitely a lot of effort taking all the curves and contours into account. I really like how much of an impact these make to a place. When we visited Brenton-on-sea earlier this year we found stunning mosaics there too, they add a lovely finishing touch to any area.

Of course there was also some metal art in the form of awesome animals made from welded together car and bicycle parts and then some wire art as well. The proportions of these are so life like.

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_{Some metal and wire art installations at the market}

Of course one of the highlights for the kiddos is the play area where there is a little boat fitted with a sandpit and a working steering wheel at the helm. My little Pirate loved this and took control remarking "arrrrhh" as she steered off into the horizon.

After our walk around I decided spoils were in order so I bought us each a Dutch pancake - Lory had a milktart filled one which was delicious (I know because I stole a bite of it) and I had a bacon and cheese filled one which she tasted but wasn't that much of a fan of. I was a bit disappointed that Lory ate her whole one - tasted so amazing, I was hoping for leftovers.

We were at the market for a good few hours but it went by so fast and was great family fun. It was a good day and I'm looking forward to my first trading day there. Even if I don't make a fortune, I think it will be a nice day out with a really warm atmosphere.

I think I could feel very at home at this market, may it be the first of many I get to trade at this year.

If any of you are out this way, make sure to make a turn, I'm sure you'll find something that tickles your fancy or peaks your interest.

Have a beautiful day
With love
Ranger Andy

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