The weather has got a lot colder recently and I'm starting to feel festive! Although I'm not sure that we're properly into winter yet, we've had a couple of frosty mornings and there's a late autumnal chill in the air. The colours of the trees on our street here in Exeter look so pretty and fortunately they seem to have remained intact, in spite of the 'storm' we supposedly had a couple of weeks ago.
Oli and I took a break from our heavy work schedules last weekend and strolled down towards the quayside, with our trusty Exeter Trails Café Culture map in hand. We visited the Coffee Cellar, a lovely independent coffee shop situated in one of the Victorian wool and cider cellars, and I made what I thought was a valiant attempt to finish the most enormous slice of carrot cake known to man.
After our refreshments, we walked along the riverbank. The storm seemed to have done a little damage here but it was still a lovely excursion and it's always nice to have a break from the textbooks, translations and such like.
This weekend, Crikey It's Vintage held their Christmas handmade, retro and vintage fair at the Thistle Hotel in Exeter and I braved the planned march by the English Defence League to do a little Christmas shopping. There were some lovely festive decorations, including bunting, baubles and tree ornaments, as well as pretty handmade gifts. These earrings from Kimbows would make great stocking fillers and you can mix'n'match any of the necklaces and bracelets for a set price.
Although I've seen and admired The Peagreen Furniture Company's stalls at many of Crikey's previous fairs, I've not bought anything from them until now. While I was smelling some of their festive scented candles (including eggnog, spiced gingerbread and cinnamon toasted almonds - yum!), I spotted a perfect present for a loved one. Of course, I couldn't tell you what it was or who it's for until after December 25th!
Kitsch In Sync and Otto Retro both had stalls at the fair. I thought that Kitsch in particular had a vast range of pretty little gifts for Christmas; the problem with trying to shop at Crikey is that I saw far more things that I wanted to buy for myself than for others, which is v selfish, but everything was just too lovely.
I really ought to pay a visit to Exeter-based Otto, but I've not yet made it! I rather wanted to try on all of their hats and there was a beautiful evening dress on display. There's a masquerade ball for the joint languages' societies in January, so I may find myself in want of a new-old ballgown yet...
As well as some familiar favourites, I came across Ravintsara for the first time. Based locally in Crediton, Sara creates hand-crafted, unique accessories and bags, including these pretty felt ones above. Most of her products are made using recycled materials, so they're good for the environment and, at affordable prices, good for your purse too; I'll definitely be looking out for Ravintsara at future events.
The Christmas lights are being switched on in Exeter's city centre on Thursday, and the German-style festive market will be opening on the same evening, so there's going to be lots to look forward to over my next few weeks in the city.
Don't forget that the Unique Boutique arts and crafts market will be at Exeter Phoenix on November 30th and December 14th, so do come along and, in the meantime, keep an eye out for a new blog post in due course!
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