Out in the Fields

Having spent a lot of lockdown clearing out the loft, cupboards, anything that wasn’t nailed down, we ended up with a pile of boxes in the garage, full of “pre-owned objets d’art”. With the weather set fair for today, and in the knowledge that there are a lot of people staycationing around here, we decided to do a car boot sale. Only one operating regularly at the moment and we’d heard that after a slow start to the season, they were starting to attract both buyers and sellers now.
I have to say it was quite a stress free experience. The organisers made sure we were all spaced at least 2m apart and there was a one way system in operation for the customers. I also noticed plenty of sanitisation stations and the refreshments and toilets all conformed to current guidelines. We had packed masks, hand sanitiser and drinks to avoid having to leave the stall more than necessary.
There was the usual scrum first thing as we unpacked, but in a sort of socially distanced manner - pretty well everyone respecting each other and us. Masks were the exception rather than the norm but it never felt too crowded. Spoke to quite a few people who were venturing out after shielding and they were all quite happy with what they found. I got the impression they felt safer being outdoors rather than in the confined space of a shop.
A lovely morning and we met lots of people who were out to enjoy themselves. Of course, the big bonus of being at what was, effectively, the only show in town was that we sold loads of stuff! Not so much bothered about the actual money we made (we kept prices low as the aim was to shift stuff not make vast profits), but really pleased that we came back with five less boxes than we set off with (including actually selling one of the empty boxes at the end of the morning!)
Not sure I’d want to do it on a regular basis but I think we will have a second trawl through the house before the end of summer and do a another car boot in September.
Mrs C is surveying our retail empire in the picture, with what would appear to be a very laid back attitude! As usual, the foreshortening effect of the zoom lens makes it look more crowded than it actually was.