My Birthday at Bath Christmas market

My birthday was way back at the end of November, but November and December went by in much of a manic blur!

I'd had a Christmas market night at Alex's school the night before, and had been manically making away that week, as well as trying not to fall asleep on the sofa due to pregnancy tiredness.

Our friends had offered to have the boys for us for a couple of hours that evening and meet us at the market after feeding them, which was so, so helpful as I need James for the car to get me and my makes to the stall and also to help me out whilst there too!

As our friend is also a brilliant cake maker, I had a slight suspicion that the boys might be doing something cakey with her as James had been a little shifty and I had dropped quite a few hints in the lead up to my birthday about wanting a homemade chocolate cake for my birthday as I never get made one but always make them for others!

Anyway the first hour of the fair went well, and I sold about £50 of stock, it could have been better, but actually there really wasn't any footfall after the first hour, But still it made for good experience!

We packed up and the boys may have given the cake game away a little ;) we then enjoyed a nice kebab with our friends once the kids were in bed (proper meat not kebab van style)!

I was exhausted the next morning which was my birthday, we had arranged for the boys to go to James' parent's house and we were heading to Bath Christmas market for the main chunk of the day. James and the boys gave me some presents at breakfast which was lovely as I wasn't expecting anything as we don't have much money!

We picked up a cake which our friend had made and iced, but the boys had decorated it, it was such a lovely idea for them to do that and I am so grateful for the effort from our friends and for James arranging it for me.

We dropped the boys of and jumped in my parent's car to head to the train station, Dad decided driving to Cheltenham would be a good idea, but when we got there we heard an announcement that the trains had all been cancelled, a bit of an annoyance at the time but probably a good thing, as had we had got the train from Swindon, we would have been on a replacement coach at some point I am guessing!

As it was Bath Market, and the first Saturday of it, we probably spent over an hour driving around to various park and rides, Dad was fuming, I hated being in the car (as pregnancy was making me feel iffy) but finally as we were heading out of a massive (and full) park and ride a lady was walking back to her car, so James jumped out and walked back with her whilst Dad got the space!

I think it was after 12 we eventually made it into Bath market, and considering we had to leave at 4 it was a little bit of a stressful start to the outing!

The stalls were all lovely again (we went last year) with many different crafts, handmade goods and food and drink, unfortunately a lot a pregnant lady can't sample-but there's always next time!

I'd say a couple of downsides were how busy it actually was, we literally were like sheep in pens in one particular area by the Abbey, no one could move, you couldn't get to the stalls very easily and getting out to wider space was hard work!! The other downside being the stalls were pretty much the same as last year, with many of them pitching in the same place too, Last year everything was new to us so was all very exciting, this year didn't have quite that same affect as many of the makes were similar-don't get me wrong it was still lovely though, just not quite the same feeling for me.

I think going forward they could improve on maybe spreading the market out a bit more, I wonder if they could have some of it along the main stretch of the high street, but maybe this would loose some of it's charm. There didn't seem much in the way of musical entertainment, even just having Christmas carols or music on speakers would make a lovely atmosphere. Also maybe a couple of areas to sit and enjoy the food and drink bought too.

Yes I was as tired as I look!

Despite having money I didn't personally spend much, only buying one sweet Nordic style girl Christmas decoration, I really wish I got the businesses details too though as I'd love to get another, it was tricky to choose the style I wanted in the first place!

Edit: I've just spent 15 minutes and finally found the shop they were from and it's Salcombe trading, much bigger than I thought it would be, i thought it was from a small craft business, but pleased I found it all the same, just wish I had more pennies for the home items!!

After a few hours mooching it was time to head back as James' parents were sorting a birthday tea our for us all. The busses were very regular and apart from my Mum embarrassing us all when pushing to the front of the queue because we were first to miss the last bus it all went smoothly ;) The traffic was heavy getting out but all in all it wasn't too bad!

It was lovely to have a few hours back at James' parents and not having to cook or worry about food, the kids were happy to see us too, as much as I love them it was a well needed few hours away from them and I definitely would NOT recommend going to Bath Christmas market with younger children!

Proud of their hard work!

And to get back to that cake, it was divine, and VERY chocolatey, much to bump's and my approval :) If you are local and need a special cake I would definitely recommend Sarah (and not just because she is a friend)!

All in all it was a fantastic birthday and nice to be treated too :)