in praise of the 'silver darlings'

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The biennial Suffolk Herring Festival was held at The New Cut in Halesworth on the last weekend of October, the first time it’s been at this venue. It was a vibrant celebration of the part herrings [or silver darlings as they were known] have played in Suffolk’s rich fishing heritage.

We set up our stall in the cafe area not really knowing what to expect of the weekend.

Each stallholder had contributed to the herring theme in some way - from vinegar flavoured fudge, beautiful ceramic fish, knitted fish brooches, Southwold fishing boat pictures, to our very own stuffed herrings and note cards.

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Soon after opening, visitors began to arrive. As well as the wide range of products on display, they were kept entertained all through the weekend by fine performances in the theatre with fishy related plays, live music and archive film.

There were activities for families too, with great workshops where you could make fantastic fish from sticks, scraps of wool and material. Plus fishy drawing fun on paper plates.

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Thankfully the weather was dry and forecast fair, so to accompany the delicious food already available indoors, the barbecue was lit and soon supplied a mouth-watering array of fresh herrings, bloaters and kippers, all served with good crusty bread and delightful toppings. And to accompany this feast there was the very aptly named Red Herring Smoked Ale from the Green Jack brewery in Lowestoft! Visit www.green-jack.com to find out more.

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So popular was the barbecue that they sold the whole weekend's order of herring in the first day! A fresh order had to be placed so as not to disappoint the crowds on Sunday.

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The event was really well attended and we met some lovely people. There was the usual steady demand for our hand-painted pebbles, but many visitors were also interested in our quirky hand-made pens with tin-can nibs, they relished the chance to try them out before buying. All in all we had a thoroughly enjoyable weekend.

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To anyone that we met, chatted to and to everyone that bought from us this weekend we would like to say a big THANK YOU! We must also thank the wonderful staff at The New Cut for putting on such a brilliant event and making the whole thing possible!

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To find out what other events are on at The Cut visit their website www.newcut.org

A windy day...

We are still stocking our shop ready for launch and there are still products that need photos. It was a lovely autumn day, bright blue sky and warm - hey, let's go to the beach and take the photos there, have a picnic lunch while we're at it!

Seemed like a good plan, so the whole team, that's Jane, Bert and I, load up the car and drive across to our nearest beach.

The minute we step from the car it's apparent that the wind is somewhat fresher here than at home. Still, we don jumpers, grab our gear and walk across to the dunes, lead by our ever-eager hound. Glorious sunshine, beautiful views and golden sand - that whips round your ankles like sandpaper! 

Not to be thwarted, Jane sets off down the beach to let Bert run off some steam. I unpack the first few items and finding an unspoilt patch of sand, set about taking some shots whilst attempting not to get sand anywhere on, in, or near the camera.

After a while, things are going OK, even though the wind is a complete pain, when DOOF! Here's Bert back to see what I'm up too - so much for the unspoilt sand... Wet from chasing pebbles into the sea, he then shakes himself for good measure.

OK, time for a break and a team photo...

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With Bert once again under control I began taking more photos for the site - check them out, they're the sandy product shots in our shop. It was around this point that Jane decided to use her phone to take some snaps. Now where did she put it? In her pocket? In her bag? Nope. She had used it in the car on the way here... I think we all know that feeling of rising panic.

Go check, did it get left in the car? No! Then she remembers a packet of crisps falling out of her over-stuffed bag when she was down the beach with Bert, but surely her phone couldn't have fallen out too? Time to retrace her steps. At least Bert's happy to be heading off down the beach again.

Without much hope, I rang her phone. After a while a man's voice answered! There were a few cagey "Who's that?" questions before I discovered that he had found the phone on the beach. Covered in sand, he assumed it had been there for some time so didn't bother to shout after the lady with the mad dog he had recently passed on his stroll. Instead he took it home and rang our home number to report it found.

How did he find our home number? Well, I didn't know this either, but if you hold down the button, even on a locked iPhone, Siri will wake up and you can ask "Who owns this phone" and he or she will tell you!

So all's well that ends well. We decided to postpone the picnic, packed our things away and headed home, collecting the phone on the way.

Sandwiches at my desk again. Here's one last reminder of the day...

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