Yes I’m only just getting around to another blog post, weeks after my last one. I honestly have every intention of blogging more, but the motivation to actually sit down and start typing is lacking, and I just need to make myself do it more! My life from about March until July 30th (and beyond to be honest!) has been all about the Einbunpin Festival which is the local event held in Sandgate on the last Sunday of July. Every year, the kids’ school holds a preserves stall as their biggest fund-raiser of the year, and this year I took on the responsibility of coordinating it. The lady who had done it for the past eight years had moved on, as her youngest is in Chance’s year, so at the end of last year when they were looking for someone else to take it on, I waited and waited and waited and when no-one else put their hand up, I did.

Now let me just say that there is no way I would have done it, if I didn’t know for certain I would have a mountain of support from our awesome school community, and they sure came through for me over and over again! In total, we made over 1000 jars of goodies, and sold all but 80 or so of them between pre-sales, on the day, and post-sales. I was absolutely thrilled!

As I had never even helped out in previous years, I needed a lot of guidance by many of the more experienced fund-raisers, but together we had everything set up before 8am and were doing a roaring trade for hours.

I was very fortunate to have Uncle Felix up, helping to kid-wrangle with Gran, and we even got Aunty Sonia over for dinner with us Friday night! What a treat!

And as usual, I felt very grateful to have Marty by my side from set up at 6:30am until we finally relaxed with some wine and cheese at 4pm that afternoon.

This year was a HUGE learning curve, and before the festival had even started, I had begun my spreadsheet for next year’s event! There are a few things I will do differently, but honestly it was such a thrill to be a part of it all and I was so happy to be there.

I have hardly had time for much else between all the coordinating and making jars of goodies myself, so I’ve tried to have a low-key couple of weeks to unwind and rest and get ready for the next few months, as it’s always a busy time of the year for my family. Hopefully time will slow down a little so I can catch up!