Showing off in the countryside

At this time of year, Jacaranda’s tablecloths are regularly washed and ironed and African animals counted into crates for visits to visit marquees, marketplaces, courtyards and historic country mansions. At the end of each day, some go back in the box while others travel to their new homes.

Ingestre Hall, Staffordshire: probably our most glamorous venue of the year

Meeting our customers is always great fun and we now have ‘regulars’ who come and say hello, while they take a look at the new stock selected on our Easter trip to Zimbabwe. At every show, we meet at least one person who has spent time living in Zimbabwe and enjoy a few memories of places (and sometimes people) we know there.

The big show of the season is my local one: hardly anybody seems to have heard of it, but thousands of people flock to South Shropshire on the first Thursday in August and it is HUGE !    

After carefully loading up the car and driving over to the showground the night before, we find the patch of grass marked ‘Jacaranda’, kick a few sheep droppings out of the way and put up our tables. Unloading the car in the rain with mud underfoot isn’t the best part of any event, but some cheerful young stewards step in with offers of help and it’s all done and dusted in no time. The next morning starts bright and sunny and there’s already a buzz in the air, when we pull up at 7.30am. There’s just time for a cup of tea and a quick hello to neighbouring stallholders, then the first customers arrive and we’re busy!

There’s something for everyone at Burwarton: toddlers in pushchairs, farmers, pensioners, horsey folk, tourists and business people of all sorts. Whoever they might be, nobody’s in a hurry; they all seem to be relaxed and having a good time. As the day gets hotter and stickier, people wander past with ice creams or cool beers and we savour the occasional gentle breeze wafting into the tent.

So what do people buy at the show? Everything from an acre of pasture to a pound of fudge! It’s a day of business deals, indulgent treats and impulse buys, as well as an opportunity to do the sort of browsing many of us don’t often find time for. For us, Burwarton Show day coincided with the opening of our online shop http://www.zimport.co.uk/jacaranda/ and provided a rare opportunity for people to touch and handle a selection of our hand-made ceramics.

'Red Henna' platter by Burnt Earth Designs

 But, do people really want to lug bowls and platters round with them on a day out? Apparently (and luckily for us) there are quite a few who do. Others opted to take one of our ‘free delivery’ vouchers and choose from a larger selection online. Our other big seller of the day was hand-beaded wire animals, made for Jacaranda by Jonathan Domingo. For some reason, everyone wanted to buy ladybirds and we almost sold out. Back in Zimbabwe, Jonathan is now frantically making more, so that they can fly in (sorry!) before the English summer finally comes to an end.