*I like starting fires*

I like starting fires

We needed to find suppliers of stock as buying from Wendy, the market trader, was in no way ideal.

Firstly, understandably, she didn’t want us buying all her new in, best bits of stock before all of her own regular customers had seen it.

Obviously, she needed to keep them happy because, as she seemed to delight in telling us, we probably wouldn’t last a change of season!

Secondly, we were paying far more than we needed to be but how could we find where to buy the stock when nobody would tell us anything?!?

I started to notice that she was getting a lot of catalogue stock so I phoned what seemed like a hundred different numbers until someone gave me an address in Peterborough.

It was freezing cold when we set off and the van was making sad noises, I thankfully packed a couple of sleeping bags to keep us warm as the heaters didn’t work they actually just blew freezing cold air at your head.

We got so lost and eventually arrived at the place to find it all closed up!

I burst into tears because I hadn’t checked the opening times.

I had to call my mum and dad and ask them if it was ok to possibly sleep in the van over night ready to go in early on the Friday morning, as it was before mobile phones and obviously there was no internet, we couldn’t get hold of anyone.

I can remember standing in that phone box thinking please, please let me even at 18 I had to ask.

ME⬇️ MY DAD⬇️ MATT⬇️

They of course understood so we drove around this large, industrial business park trying to find somewhere to sleep.

We parked up and walked to this petrol garage and then sat on this bench eating pasties.

This man came up and started talking to us, he asked what we was doing and me being a muppet told him the full story and even told him, we were sleeping in the van.

He then told us he had just come out of prison, why……. because he loves starting fires????!!!!

We couldn’t get rid of him and we didn’t want him walking back to where the van was parked.

He went to the toilet in a bush and we legged it and I mean legged it!

We decided it wasn’t safe to stay anywhere about there so we drove a good distance away onto a housing estate but it was full of cars, we eventually found a clear spot and tried to get cosy in the back of the van, remember I had made curtains for this ugly Wilma Flintstone van.

I couldn’t sleep it was freezing cold and I was worried about the fire starter finding us!

I eventually woke to the sound of lots of voices. I twitched the curtains we had only gone and parked in front of the school gates!!!!

I could hear the mums asking one another, where had that heap of junk come from?

I woke Matt up and he couldn’t concentrate on anything other than the fact that he needed to pee so bad ?

He couldn’t get out the van, he was doing the wee wee dance I was finding it hysterical ?

I eventually helped him out by offering to drink the rest of the coke so that he could pee in the bottle hahaha he was panicking like mad, he couldn’t cope with the pressure!

(It reminded him of when his brother had to pee in front of a nurse after having his appendix out but he couldn’t stop his ding- a- ling from trying to say hello, Matt was sent out for laughing ?)

He then had to climb out the back of the van run around the front and drive off in front of all these nosey mums!

We made it back to the huge unit and parked up.

Gradually, van after van pulled up we all sat waiting to go in. Then a few got out their vans and started to hover around the door.

Matt said, “Sit still it must open at 9 and its 25 to so there’s no point in getting out and hovering!”

Nooooo not me I had to get out and be at the front I couldn’t bare the stress of sitting in the van!

So out I get, trying to stand there all cool but giving Matt the angry stare, the get your butt out here stare NOW!!!!!

Then more vans turned up so now there are at least 40 vans, Im getting more and more excited, not knowing how it all works but knowing we only had about £400 to spend.

These other traders had lovely big, shiny vans and probably a lot of money to spend.

What if they get all the stock first ? Then its all been a waste of time and petrol.

So, I had managed to get myself to the front of the pack and Matt had at least now gotten himself out of the van but he was holding back, trying to act like he wasn’t bothered Mr cool, he was finding it funny that I was standing with my nose almost touching the shutter.

Guess what happened next???

I only went and fainted!!!!

How totally uncool and highly embarrassing but let me tell you it turned out to be a stroke of pure genius on my behalf !

The ladies in the office had me sat with my head between my legs, worried I was ill until I told them all, no no no Im just fine just soooooo excited I forgot I needed to keep breathing!

After tea and toast they took me round and showed me what was in some of the parcels before letting anyone else in !!!!!!

I nearly fainted again as normally, you do not get to look in the parcels, it would just say 100 skirts at x amount of £ or 300 mixed parcel of ladies dresses and coats at x amount so it was a total gamble all that you knew was it was current catalogue stock.

We had our first supplier

We no longer needed Moody Wendy.

TO BE CONTINUED………………

This weeks News

We managed to fit in a few days down at Sandy Balls in the New Forest, one of my favourite places. So many happy memories there Rae come with us and Reggie and her boyfriend managed to come down for a couple of nights.

We jumped in the River Avon every morning which definitely brushed off the cobwebs, Barney had to stay on the lead though after the first morning, as he loves a swim, but decided he would take off after some swans!

Reggie’s Dan jumped in and tried to catch him, totally forgetting he’s not a strong swimmer and also just how cold it would be lol.

It took us nearly an hour to get Barney back and the same amount of time to get Dan looking a normal colour again too lol

The girls all kept the unit running smoothly and Phebs has started the best challenge on instagram, just look at all these lovely ladies who decided to have a Jane’s Stall day at work. I just couldn’t stop grinning when I saw these photos.