Yesterday we set our alarm for earlier than usual on a weekend and drove up first to Newbury to collect Jam’s mum Gaynor and then onto Bracknell, where the Enchanted Market had touched down for a couple of days. The building it was held in is usually a school but it was transformed by some fantastic stalls
and there was live music
and a programme of talks happening as well, plus no entrance fee – all this enchantedness for free!
One of my first stops (and indeed first purchases) was to the Wonky Broomstick Shop. They are based in Glastonbury and Auntie Sandy is a regular visitor, I just couldn’t resist this sign which now joins the tipsy chicken sign over our little bar area.
The lady on the stall next door sadly doesn’t have a link as she doesn’t have a shop anymore but I hope she gets a new one as she had some really beautiful things, I fell for this green man cup – love his eyes –
and Mystic mirror instantly
Both were a bargain which made their purchase inevitable. I managed to drag myself away from that stall finally only to run into Maddogg Designs who had a fantastic collection of stones and crystals. I took to this palm stone immediately as it seemed to have the impression of a butterfly embedded into it.
Just as I was leaving with him I spotted this beautiful carved hare. The crystal makes him feel like he is made of ice, so pretty, so of course he had to come too.
Next it was onto Avalon cloaks for some serious trying on, they had a beautiful ready to wear light blue silk cloak lined with green that was stunning (pic of someone else wearing it here) but mostly they make to order & you can browse all the options on the web – definitely dreamy! Near them was a lady who made fairy wings and was responsible for this beautiful peacock pair that I saw walk past me (and their owner was kind enough to stop for a photo).
Very lovely indeed. Our last stop before lunch was Quercus Magical Emporium of Treasures, which indeed did hold one absolute treasure for me.
When I was really little I managed to find a black cauldron tripod which burned essential oils. It lived on top of my bookcase next to my windowsill and I would burn essential oils in it and its partner burner who was a moon. Until one terrible day when leaving the window open to get some air a massive gust of wind came and blew back the curtains knocking over and smashing both of my beloved burners. I was pretty upset. Dad told me he could glue them but that if he did I wouldn’t be able to use them anymore so reluctantly I put them in the bin, but on Sat I found another one! A bargain at £3.50 but with a slightly smaller blue cauldron, I’ve been burning Olbas oil in it today and already I love it.
Perfect! We had baguettes for lunch before I dashed off to attend a talk by Kitchen Witch High Priestess Rachel Patterson (ably assisted by Tracey Roberts) all about the magical properties of herbs. There were 13 laid out in little bowls and we had to identify them and then list their magical meanings, or what they meant to us. I recognised 10 out of the 13 which wasn’t bad considering, the only one I had never seen before were fennel seeds (they smelt like cardamom seeds but I knew they were too big to be those!). I also managed to bag myself a copy of the new cake cookbook Cakes from the Cauldron, which I was looking through this morning, it has some really nice looking sweet treats in it which I can’t wait to try for the next special occasion.
After the talk the plan was to head back home but just as we were nearly out the door a beautiful long cardigan caught my eye. Here I am trying to decide between dark and light purple (whatever choice was made it had to be purple, I can’t help it I love it).
In the end light purple was victorious and as you may have guessed that came home as well.
So with empty pockets but happy hearts we headed home, thanks Enchanted Market we had a great time we’ll look out for you next year when hopefully you’ll pop up near us again.
