West Norwood FEAST

It was scorching hot already when I woke up at 6.30. I quickly cooled down the guinea pigs with their frozen pad (placed in their hutch - it cools it down a treat), fed Omar, Whisky and myself, then trotted down the hill to Retro Village. I had an inkling that 13 larger stalls might have been a problem and, sure enough, there was one where the coffee van should be. However, it was easy enough to dismantle it with the help of two wonderful stallholders. Luckily, that 13th stall was for Caroline and I to give us shade and not for a stallholder who would no longer have a stall. Instead, us Retro volunteers had a table in the sun that we visited whenever we saw a child wanting to do some colouring-in. Mostly, we stepped into the shade of various stalls.

It was great fun being there all day. The Record Man played some stonking tunes. I particularly enjoyed Sunshine Woman by Don Fardon. The combination of it being the hottest day of the year so far and Murray playing the tennis meant that FEAST was attended by only a quarter of the crowd that normally visits in the afternoon. So, we weren't too busy. Some stallholders still did very well, though, especially Tortoiseshell Vintage who had brought a marvellous range of summer dresses.

On my lunchbreak, I discovered gin sorbet down at the Fresh 'n' Green hub. It's a revelation. Yum!

Every so often I popped into Portico Gallery where there was a TV and an enthusiastic audience of artists encouraging Andy. However, matchpoint occurred as we were packing up the stalls. We managed to get to the pub as Andy was handed the trophy. Whoop!

I've spied another blipper who attended FEAST.