Busy in the Swan

Sometimes I feel as if I need to clone myself....
Usually on a Thursday, I finish work at 7pm and walk straight across the road to the Swan to join in the Stitch and Bitch session, which starts around 6pm, so I can get in an hour or so of knitting and chatting - and a much needed drink! It's the start of my 'weekend', after all.
Yesterday evening, I went over with my knitting, as usual. I would have got a drink, but there was a party waiting to go into the restaurant, and they were about three deep at the bar. They go to the Swan bi-monthly for a meal and a speaker, from all over the Wye and Usk area. They've tried other hotels and restuarants, but this one suits them best.
After about half an hour, Jo arrived from the Fairtrade group, and I scurried off to take minutes (as it turned out, 'making elaborate doodles' was nearer the mark). It was the only time enough of us were free to have a meeting, and we were also meeting up with Chris Armstrong from Jump4Timbuktu. They have already booked the Buttermarket for a Christmas Fair for the 13th December, and asked us if we wanted to be involved in organising it as a Fairtrade event.
It was a very pleasant evening, as we discussed the merits of mulled wine (for which we would need a license, so we plumped for mulled apple juice instead), the best ways of making Fairtrade mince pies, and looked through leaflets that Chris had picked up from the recent event at Abergavenny for who we could invite. Tools for Self Reliance was mentioned, and Love Zimbabwe, who were at our Fairtrade Fortnight event in February with some wonderful pottery and craft work. Jump4Timbuktu will be selling Tuareg jewellery and so on, of course.
Chris used to organise the Haymakers/Handmade in Hay Fairs, so he has plenty of experience at this sort of thing. He even offered to supply some of his own apple juice - he has it made at a place near Ledbury, where he's involved in the running of a woodland. His 'day job' is making wooden furniture.
He's also found a lady who sells Fairtrade bags, and will ask her to come along - Julia, who used to be on the Fairtrade committee and also sells Fairtrade bags, had already committed to the Leominster Victorian Christmas Fair on the same day. She may get back to me to borrow a cloak - she's trying to think of a costume that will be practical for unloading and loading the car, and warm. Meanwhile, I am in charge of the Lucky Dip, which went down very well in February.