Our Lady Of The Rosary School Bazaar

Our Primary School is very badly funded by the Education Authority, probably because it does so well... it doesn't get all the extra financial help which struggling schools seem to qualify for. So they hold regular fund-raising events (like the School Fete) which parishioners are warmly encouraged (read three-line-whip from the pulpit last Sunday!) to attend...

I don't have any children of my own, and I see quite a lot of children (older ones, but still children) during my working week, but the school and parish are closely linked, so I try to go along. Invariably, I end up having a whale of a time chatting to friends.

The Parish UCM were out in force: they had home-made plum jam, marmalade, and various cakes (I succumbed to a delicious-looking cherry cake and a pot of jam) and they were running a raffle for the christmas cake - the Nativity Scene was hand-painted in food colouring!!!

Tea was served by this intrepid team... they were also serving mulled wine, but kept remarkably quiet about its availability, positioning themselves carefully so as to conceal the tipple from view...



There was a stall with children's toys on it. I did my usual trick of walking right past it, thinking "no children, doesn't apply!" when a friend pointed out that I have an eleven-month-old nephew, and it's worth getting into the habit of checking such things out. I ended up buying a bag of wooden track and train-type vehicles (recommended by a friend who has several children - she seemed to know what the stuff was called as well...)

This pair were selling videos... I thought there wouldn't be much call for them these days, but the mother assured me that videos were much more child-friendly than DVDs (which scratch easily.) I later spotted a friend of mine (a primary school teacher) stocking up on various videos. The little girl in the photo had only started at the school a few days before, so it must have seemed like they were throwing a welcome party just for her; it was great to see her mother getting stuck right in...

Of course, a Christmas Bazaar wouldn't feel like a proper Christmas Bazaar without Santa's Grotto. Here, Santa's little helper is keeping order, probably for 'elf and safety purposes. I was allowed to sneak in to Santa's Grotto to take a couple of unofficial photos for the blog...


All in all, a great time was had by everyone. Now, if you'll excuse me, there's a large slice of cherry cake with my name on it...