Tea Tent Shenanigains



My brother in law runs The Prestatyn Classic Car Show 
My sister organises the catering with a team of volunteers that are similar to my old Flower Committee despots.
Thousands of people descend on the seaside town as they did today and most want a drink and a cake and comfortable place to park their arse .
I joined the small team of eight volunteers and a smattering of air cadet teenagers in the furnace hot tea tent.
Pauline was sweating cobs over a mound of babs and stated she " couldn't stop as she'd only done the ham and not the cheese " as the others busied themselves over cutting the cakes into manageable chunks.
It was going swimmingly until the water urns blew their fuses
Luckily previous flower Show disasters have made my sister and I used to sudden tits up moments like these so after collecting a collection of kettles from local shops we entered a local house and started ferrying boiling water into the tea tent whilst the other ladies fended off a small riot with glasses orange squash and the odd Ribena before the handyman arrived.
The lady in charge of the washing up bowl flirted outrageously as I took over the tea making responsibilities . My previous Trelawnyd memorial hall kitchen experience obviously impressed her....but I knew she was only after another trusted pair of hands for the Prestatyn Flower Show teatent as matriarch Denise was on holiday!
There is no room for ditherers in a busy teatent

I only did a four hour stint, ( whilst most of the volunteers did all day!!!)  but after I had finished I had to go home to lay down in a darkened , cool room

37 comments:

  1. Anonymous7:08 pm

    The street looks very very busy.

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  2. Well earned. I hope you drank lots of water!

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  3. In Canada, we call a classic auto display like that a "show 'n shine." Some of them feature beer tents but never a tea tent to my knowledge.

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    1. Tea tents full of tea coffee, juice, and cakes lots of lots of cakes

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  4. You did you bit as you always do! Enjoy your evening. Humid here! x

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  5. One of your many strengths!

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  6. Many blog friends are talking about the UK heat. Now I thought the UK was cool and cloudy most days.

    cheers, parsnip

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  7. It was a nice day for the classic car show. I bet your brother-in-law was relieved about that.

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  8. Well done you.
    I suspect I would still be skulking in that darkened room.

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  9. Anonymous8:24 pm

    Sounds like working too hard had you laid up so you had to go up and lay down. When you were up you stayed down until you got up and went down again.... hopefully to a good cup of tea...

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  10. The last thing you need at a social event is the tea urn breaking down. I'm impressed by your ingenious remedy involving a string of kettles! JG saves the day yet again!

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  11. The gay bloke in the kitchen with the ladies. Were you ever so camp?

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    Replies
    1. Not camp at all actually.....we were too busy to waste time on fru fru

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  12. We've yet to have a tea urn failure at any of the WI tea & cake stall outings I've been involved in. But we always run out of cake (how ever many versions of banana loaf are contributed)

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  13. Poor lad....they wore you out. Glad to hear cool heads prevailed.

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  14. Experience counts for so much!

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  15. Bravo for making it the four hours.

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  16. Sounds like a busy day, hope the tea tent made lots of money. "Sweating cobs", that was one of my mothers favourite expressions when it was hot!

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  17. You didn't mention the CARS.

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  18. The cars look awesome!!! I especially love the blue truck with the racing stripes and the gold pimpmobile next to it. Just spectacular!

    I hope the gentleman in shorts sitting next to the blue truck wore sunscreen. Because sunburns sting, especially on a pale people who rarely experience a full sunny, hot day!

    The show sounds like a fun, fabulous success. Kudos to your brother in law, sister, you, and the crew of volunteers and sponsors and the community for making it work. Thanks for the fantastic foto. I hope you enjoyed a nice cold lemonade (or cocktail!) after all your hard work.

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  19. Tea tent sounds good, classic cars sound.....boring!

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  20. Well organised; tea tent for the ladies, classic cars for the gents.
    Greetings Maria x

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    Replies
    1. And of course classic cars for the many women who enjoy that sort of thing and the tea tent for any blokes who fancy a cuppa...

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  21. It sounds fun and chaotic all at the same time. I helped in the charity shop all day and was so hot that I later stood in the rain in my garden !
    Good to help out x

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  22. Sounds like a good, but exhausting day. I was sat by the river in Lancashire... after building and filling a flower bed 😊

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  23. Sounds like loads of fun... especially the lying down in a cool, darkened room!

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  24. That is going to be my motto in the future - 'The is no room for ditherers in a busy tea-tent'.

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  25. Sterling work in the face of urn malfunctions. Glad you averted any rioting by deprived tea lovers. No wonder you needed a lie down.

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  26. Good job coping with the unexpected!

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  27. You are of great value. Good stuff.

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  28. PS: And what's that short bed, step side, pickup truck Please?

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