Wands & Wizards

Yesterday as mentioned we visited Auld Reekie, braving the Scottish autumnal elements. The M8 was awash with driving rain and severe gusts, which the Lunicornmobile struggled to withstand, however now back snug and watching our washing dry.
Our trip was fruitful. As you'll see from our stockists page we have a new shop in the Lunicorn fold - The Wyrd Shop in Edinburgh's Canongate/Royal Mile. Now, word has it, that it's not unlike The Wand Shop in J.K. Rowling's Diagon Alley and well worth a visit for wizards and muggles too. The Lunicorns could not resist a small purchase themselves...namely - "Magico Maximus" a wizard's wand charmed with feather of phoenix. T'was the last one of its kind in the shop, and cleared a wee glass shelf for the Lunicorn wares. Our wand came with a caution - "never to be used to bash, club or poke anyone". We were duly warned! So if you see us brandishing our wand unlawfully, you can report us to the Ministry of Magic. Speaking of Ministers, with the excitement of The Wyrd Shop, the Lunicorns found themselves in need of spending a penny, and with the proximity of the Scottish Parliament, thought it apt they should make use of their facilities, forgetting that this involved a certain amount of security checks. The guards were somewhat bemused, as we turned out our pockets and bags, to find our "Magico Maximus" etc.....
So off we headed back up The High Street en route for the labyrinth of exits out of The Capital when we spotted a unicorn above the Edinburgh School of English. And opposite a pub called The White Horse....those unicorns get everywhere which leads us back to the previous blog when a Dundonian claimed his city as their residence....
So from the Purveyors of Fine Enchantments since 1485 to Holyrood's W.C.s we had a splendid adventure.
Till next time
Bright blessings.
x

September whirl

Yep, that's what this last weekend felt like! Friday night we set up stall at the music Hootenanny in Buddha's Backyard where we enjoyed some fabulous folk music and some new faces. Then off to Dundee on Saturday, where after several foiled attempts to find the carpark for the Caird Hall, trying to follow a route planner, we finally realised that as long as we followed signs for the Unicorn Frigate we were heading in the right direction. Also discovered that the unicorn and griffin which feature as sculptures in the City Square are significant in that these are the figures on Dundee's coat of arms. According to a conversation with a city security guard, that's because Dundee is where unicorns actually reside....well, if anyone can shed any light on this, we'd be eternally grateful cos they must have also caught the overnight sleeper South to appear in Diana Cooper's back garden! Sunday, we hosted our Lunicorn stand at our first Merchant City Square craft fair in Glasgow. The Merchant City Festival was in full swing this weekend too, including a stilted kiltie and an oversized dog with an uncannily human bark, which resulted in scaring the weans. Met some terrific people there and it's a venue we'll be returning to often before Christmas. Check out our calendar for details of when. Signing off now as the Lunicorns are off on a recce mission to where certain quarters call Auld Reekie.
Celestial Salutations
Lunicorn

Wuthering Delights

Well...........
Just returned from deepest Yorkshire and have many tales to tell.....not least of which is a meeting with author Diana Cooper who talks of unicorns in her latest book "Discover Atlantis" published by Hodder Mobius. A very magical lady indeed with an incredible aura....just ask the viewers of "This Morning" who jammed the show's phone-lines trying to get info on her after her appearance (reputedly 100,000, the largest number of callers EVER in one show). So there we were, at Harrogate Pavilions (a lovely venue)The Body & Soul Fair and Diana Cooper paid us a visit. Attracted perhaps by the unicorns of Lunicorn? Who knows, but we felt enriched by the experience and that we are definitely on the right path with what we are doing. So, a mad week. And happy to announce yet more stockists, namely (and you can see full details on our website under where & when) Odds Bodkins in York. Wow! What a place! In a medieval tower near Gillygate, Fiona Hyde knows her stuff and furthermore liked our stuff, and so the two stuffs met, and there you have it. Then ventured to Harrogate, and discovered Natural Spirit, run by a cool biker lady called Nikki, she too was of the Lunicorn way and is now a stockist. Then, whilst offering our wares at the fair itself, we were approached by Kimberley sporting the most amazing multicoloured shirt, who revealed that she had a shop in Whitley Bay and would very much like to stock our boxes in her window. The Aloe Vera Natural Health Centre, check it out. Tho' we may face competition next year at the fair from her seven year old daughter who is already drawing beautiful spiralling unicorns and wants to trade.......We should mention that our accommodation for the weekend was provided by our good friends Lorna & Mark at York University and their lovely family Caitlin & Dylan. Caitlin's speciality was baking us some Scooby Doo biscuits with interesting GREEN icing. Thank you Caitlin, We suspect you too could have a stall at next year's fair....! And we can't leave this blog without mentioning the wondrous talents of organisers Body & Soul - a Scottish company. They truly are the kings of event organisation. And nice people too, which is rare! Feel like we've joined the Body & Soul family and the warmth and personal connection from all those involved is just lovely. Stopped off en route back to Caledonia on Sunday night in a wee place called Bedale, at the Green Dragon, again a wondrous hostelry. And a big thank you to the moon for lighting our journey down the A road 74 on Thursday night, and to the lovely man at the travelodge at Southwaite who cut us a deal when we dropped in at the midnight hour to ask if there was any room at the inn....And news from across the Atlantic - ceilidh suprise in Saskatchewan in Canada wants to stock us, so as soon as we can paint, line and fill our boxes, they'll be there!
And one final note from one Lunicorn in reference to this blog's title, the enigmatic talents of Kate of the Bush has a new album out on 7th November. At last!!!!
Love and luminous delights
Lunicorn

And another....

...new stockist that is! Mystique Moments in Aberdour where the green witch resides. A magical shop with very informed staff. Worth a visit and quality is the key word. Check out our links page on our website and you'll see a link to theirs.
Learned some really interesting facts about cheap tea-lights. You know the kind you get in supermarkets and such like. £1.50 for 300,000. Well, they could be giving you asthma! They've got lead and all sorts of nasty things in them, that it's too expensive to take out, so allegedly certain countries abroad just package them up and sell them back to Europe. Not nice. Worth paying a wee bit extra to get the real thing, no? I guess it's the - always read the label - syndrome.
So, as mentioned before, we're off to Harrogate this weekend for the Body & Soul Health Fair at the Pavilions. We're staying in the grounds of York University with old pals, so will be looking for cloisters, lots of latin, and pretending to be intellectual. Next weekend is a bit of a marathon, as we're 'exhibiting' our wares at a Hootenanny in Glasgow (check out our website for details) on the Friday night, participating in a showcase in Dundee on Saturday, then at Merchant City Square back in Glasgow on Sunday as part of the Merchant City Festival. We're going to have to give our friend Wendy's psychic night a miss this time round on Sunday night, as it is a Lunicorn birthday and one must celebrate in some shape or form. And after that we're going to take in some sunshine and try out some O-level Ancient Greek in a wee place called Roda. Did we mention we were writing a book? We'll dot the i's and cross the t's of that one whilst partaking of some ouzo.
Off to pack the Lunicorn travel bag, as one Lunicorn has a mission in Elgin before travelling forth to Yorkshire....
x

Plane Crazy

Ok, so having departed the Lunicorn studios at the ungodly hour of 4.30am this very morn and returned weatherbeaten and knackered, here are our thoughts on our RAF Leuchars Airshow experience.....
Can anyone tell us where the Red Arrows actually reside, cos we saw them head off for their dinner at around 7pm tonight. Not one at a time, nah, not two at a time, but in trebles. Show offs! Also, what exactly is a 'fod grid' - if anyone can shed light on this, we'd be eternally grateful. Wouldn't think there'd be much cattle on a runway....so what is a fod? We at Lunicorn are somewhat intrigued. And somewhat excited at having to drive on a runway to exit the show....
So, never mind, the low flying aircraft with their fancy smoky stuff and formations and REALLY SCARY head to head flypasts, how about the Lunicorn low-flying gazebo? Yes, one bit the dust (albeit the incredibly cheap 'made out of supermarket bags' modelle). Oh, how we watched it soar! Them gazebos really can fly.....Anyhoo, then we spent the entire day guying the posts, with our actual bodies, of the posher gazebo borrowed from a friend, to ensure it did not follow its predecessor's path into orbit.
This was naturally quite tricky when it came to doing the business of Lunicorn with attentive customers. However, we managed, somehow and the borrowed tent is now safely back in its bag ready to be returned. Lends a whole new slant to the term 'loitering within tent'.
Have invested in some 'Ear Defenders' - them planes can be quite noisy, and sore on the 'ole ear, and knowing someone recently to have 'depressed eardrums' we thought it best to protect in the hope that no St. John's Wort would be necessary.....
Still, apart from the noisy planes, RAF Leuchars Airshow was a fabulously well-organised event. Those military folks sure know how to put on a show. Don't know if it's entirely in keeping with Lunicorn's ken, but hey ho, we're trying lots of different things at the moment, so bear with us.
On another note, pleased to say that Body and Soul Books (previously Second Sight) in Stockbridge, Edinburgh are now stocking Lunicorn's wares. It's a wonderful shop with a terrific vibe. A sofa and possibly a coffee, give it a shot if you find yourself in that particular area!
Next up, it's a trip to Harrogate for the Body & Soul Fair, so we suspect the Lunicornmobile may be seen around York sussing out potential stockists. "The Shambles" does kinda sound like the story of our lives so maybe we'll be successful.....
Someone gave us a great quote today from a poem about unicorns "There will be no peace on earth until the unicorns return..." If anyone can tell us who wrote the poem, there's a free unicorn tattoo in it for them.
Lighty light.
x

magic on the Isle of Anglesey

A magical island inhabited since the Mesolithic period,7000 BC,rich in wildlife and beautiful beaches...........a haven of peace and tranquility.....accessed from the mainland by the Telford suspension bridge across the beautiful Menai straights.....sounds heavenly ? it is !!! and Lunicorn were lucky enough to be there recently.Not only to see the many historic sites, but to see our NEW STOCKIST IN MOELFRE at TWM PEN STRYD ( across the harbour and up the hill towards the post office ) .You can be sure of a friendly welcome from Jan Roberts and her staff in their beautiful gift shop,which also has a fabulous tea room ......so if youre in the north wales area pay a visit to Moelfre,on the Isle of Anglesey,and see our products!!!!!! (...and the wildlife,and the beaches,and the roman age Din Lligwy settlement............the list goes on...)