Christmas Shopping

It's been a madly mild day - I saw roses blooming on a traffic roundabout, in December!
I was leaving the Winter Festival in Hay behind to go to Hereford for the day.
What I actually wanted, boringly, was printer ink from the refilled cartridge place - and once I'd got that, I wasn't sure what I was going to do. I've been incredibly organised this year, and got most of my Christmas presents already, locally. Then I ran into Amo near the Cornish Pasty shop. She was on her way to a local beekeepers' Christmas dinner (she started keeping bees this year), but she'd just come from the Steiner School Advent Fair at the Shire Hall. (Thanks, Amo!)
I don't think I've ever been in the Shire Hall before. It went back a lot further than I expected, with stalls all along the main corridor, and then a flight of stairs to the main hall. There were children's activities, a puppet show and a Snow Queen, refreshments up on the stage, and lots of lovely crafty, presenty things on the stalls. I was very impressed with the rag rugs - which reminded me that here was a craft I'd like to get back to. There was pottery, too, and leather goods, and Christmas wreaths, and Fairtrade clothes (including some made with giant nettle fibre), and hand spun wool and wool for felting, and recycled sari yarn.... I had a lot of fun going round, and I eventually emerged, blinking, into the sunlight clutching a variety of wooden spoons and spatulas for the kitchen, all hand made, for about the same price as plastic tat that wouldn't last five minutes.
The Saturday market was on in the main square, too, which made it pleasantly busy - including a live barn owl on one Owl charity stall.
So I came away with a few ideas, and a bag full of things I hadn't set out to buy (but which will come in very useful), with just enough time to buy a magazine from the shop near the bus station, and peruse the beer shelves of Morrisons (mmm, Adnams, and Batemans, and Old Thumper, and Rosy Nosy....) before the bus was due back to Hay.