A Christmas Market

Hello friends,  I sure hope, your not upset with me for "bailing out" of here for a couple of days. I can explain, really I can. I was a very busy bee, trying to turn a dream of mine into reality. Guess what dreams really do come true, with  help from some fantastic friends,  and alot of hardwork, our little village, by the seaside, had it's First Christmas Market !!! I can hardly believe it really happened. A little over a month ago,I mentioned my friend Susana, that I thought our little village, would benefit from a Christmas Market, where, local arts,crafts and foods could be sold to the public. I told her, in my mind I could, see lots of tabels with lovely items, made by all who wished to participate, that I wished for a popcorn machine, popping away while the aroma of popcorn wafted in the air, that I wished for someone doing face painting, so all the little kids could get their faces painted while, their parents shopped, and that I really wished for a hot chocolate booth. My friends, this is where the power of friendship and women all come into play. They all thought it was a fantastic idea, and we all wondered why it had not been done before. Now my blog has nothing to do with politics, and I would like to keep it that way, but it had never been done before, exactly because of politics. It is not proper to speak ill of anyone, so I won't, that is not my job. I can however say this whole project/dream came true, because there were no politics involved. No us and them, no one side of the village, the other side of the village, no mention of political groups of social status, we were all ONE group of people working side by side, all equals. My friends it made all the difference, I have never been prouder to live in Porto Martins, and I am not ashamed to say that I have shed many tears over the last several days, but all due to pure overwhelming JOY. Even the good Lord bestowed upon us two sun filled days, warm and balmy, hence no need for the hot chocolate booth, maybe next time, oh and there will be a next time! The most amazing thing, the amount of visitors OUR Little Christmas Market had. All of our advertising was word of mouth, some flyers we all individually printed at home, and of course Facebook not so evil afterall ;). Someone, somewhere on Facebook, actually got word out to a gentleman, who films events, and uploads videos, to Youtube. He actually came to the Market on Saturday !! Again, another blessing, because of this video, my parents and family where able to catch a glimpse of the Christmas Market! I cannot express enough gratitude, to all of my friends, and so many of you all who read the blog, who actually came to the Christmas Market. Thank you all for stopping at my table, cheering us on, and even making purchases, my heartfelt thanks. I suppose I should mention some food now, I did alot of mass baking and preserving, for my little table. In order for everything to be fresh, it was all baked on the friday, my poor kiddos I think felt neglected, they had to eat ramen noodles. Then I packaged and labled everything, that evening. The biggest hit by far was my Red Pepper Jelly, I think I maybe now called  the red pepper jelly lady on the island. I guess I have gushed enough, but I can help it, I am one happy lady, and wanted to share my joy with you all. Just want to leave you with one of my favorite quotes, because we all worked so hard, together for the same purpose, bringing the community together......Mission Accomplished.

I'm a great believer in luck, and I find the harder I work the more I have of it.  ~Thomas Jefferson

xo,Diana