Sent this to lace by mistake: Finally it's all over. Got woken at midnight (stopped staying up to see the change of year long ago) by the usual fireworks. Threw a blanket over my dog's head so he couldn't see the flashes and had to leave him to shake for half an hour while the barrage went on. This morning, while out for his 'empty' he tried to drag me off my feet to get away from the noise of someone putting their wheely rubbish bin out. He'll be like that for a couple of days.
I can't see the attraction of fireworks - to my mind once you've seen one display, you've seen them all. At least here in Poole, where we have a quaking dog between 10 and 10.30 pm every Thursday evening throughout July and August while identical firework displays happens on Poole Quay for the holiday makers. It's like keep watching repeats of the same bad TV programme. Someone thought it was a good idea several years ago. But maybe they'll stop if holidaymaker numbers drop. One of the main attractions of Poole was Poole Pottery (which you could tour and see how the stuff was made) and the outlet shop, where you could buy seconds of current production (I don't think the hoiliday makers realised that was what they were buying) both went out of business just before Christmas. The outlet also had some classy franchises in it as well, and sections where you could vent anger by smashing pottery, have a go at a potter's wheel or paint your own (already made) piece.. Whether the administrators will find buyers to get them going again is debatabe. The pottery itself went bust a couple of years ago and was resurrected. Now it's gone agan, there's doubt that it can be re-opened. At the previous closure there was interest in buying the name 'Poole Pottery' for production in the middle east. So if you collect Poole Pottery, there's unlikely to be anymore of the genuine modern stuff - it's likely to have made in "Taiwan" stamped on it (or whatever the current main production country in the east is now). In addition to the staying holidaymakers, there were always five or six coach loads of day trippers visiting the pottery and outlet. We felt sorry for the five coach loads who arived at the outlet on 26th December (Boxing Day here) to find it closed. There'll no longer be any attraction for day trippers, so the town's income from those will plummet, but, on the bright side, they won't be around to filch the best bits from the charity shops in the High Street for presents to take back to friends at home. Useful places for beads, frames, needlework stuff and books. Now it's over, I WILL miss the inflatable Santa on the roof of a house about 100 yards away - quite suggestive the way it got inflated and lit up every evening and deflated each morning. So glad to hear that Valentine's cards have been spotted already - Easter eggs should be a bit later this year (end of January?) because it's not until the end of the first week in April. Happy New Year Jean in Poole, Dorset, UK To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace-chat [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
