The Trelawnyd Flower Show 2007

There are several reasons why I have really enjoyed the flower show even though it has been a long,hard day. I have learnt a great deal from the the professional vegetable and flower judges, won first prize and a commendation for my rose and two seconds for my boiled egg and French beans, and been a part of the most successful flower show to date, but I must admit that the main reason for having a good day is the fact I have met a lot of very friendly locals and felt very much a part of the community, which only happens with this sort of thing. After setting up a load of entries from us and many of the Prestatyn entrants, I shadowed the old Welsh teddy boy and colourful character who was judging the veg! Obviously many of my veg was not quite up to scratch, so I was quick NOT to tell him which was mine ! even though he slagged some of them off terribly ( my herbs had been "thrown" into a trug!!) I was pleased that he praised my beetroots but did comment they were rather small! He was obviouly passionate about judging and about village shows and I enjoyed learning the "show tricks" from him.

Carol shadowed the arts and food judge,Glenys over saw the flower judge, as Auntie Gladys (centre in pic) got on the the raffle and Irene (left) organised the teas with a small army of helpers, so although we were short of stewards, everything was done and done properly!.

A delightful guy called Alan who was originally German, had lived in the Midlands for most of his life ( and had been retired in Trelawnyd for 7 years), helped me on the door, and he introduced me to scores of locals. I found it remarkable that he can now speak Welsh fluently, and did just that, to almost everyone! Characters like Mrs Jones, ( the elderly lady I wave to daily from the farm way down the lane) came to introduce themselves for the first time, and at times it was a little overwhelming but very, very sweet!

The doors opened at two thirty and in an hour over two hundred people had crammed themselves into the village hall. Our door was up on the day, the number of entries was over a hundred more than usual, and the judges stated that the quality of the produce was the best ever, so we felt pretty happy at the whole damm thing! My mother's tablecloths and the sweet peas that decorated each of the tea tables, went down very well with the predominently elderly audience, and many said the hall had never looked so pretty! which was nice too.

Ann and her affable group of despots from her allotment, came up trumps and joined in with the show and all got good prizes. (Ann won the cup for best floral art) Many others turned up after entering the Prestatyn Show last month and they in turn won also, so the winners were not all from the village which everyone seemed to appreciate.

we finished at 5pm, knackered but rather smug with the day. Chris enjoyed cake eating and bought Meg (yes Meg) a woolly Brown dog jumper from Gladys' stall!, and I got home just in time for a large chardonnay infront of the fire!

working tomorrow, and Monday night, and back to allotment work on Tuesday!

small world

I have just read Nigel's blog, the idle ramblings of a relaxing holiday maker- written from a sunny internet cafe in Sitges, Spain, and it is strange to think that nowadays the world aften feels so small. The internet, email,this new networking facebook thingy and texting makes instant communication possible, if not obligitory and I hardly remember my childhhood phonecalls home from spain in the 1970's, with fistfulls of coins, a faint line and a sense of awe at the possibilities of calling home from another country. Now it all is SO easy!

Enough already.........................

ok ok It has been flower show ALL day! The kitchen looks like an explosion in a vegetable factory!

Table shifting

The preparation for the flower show continues and after a particularly busy night shift looking after a chap with meningitis and two hours sleep, I went to the village hall to help hump all the tables around ready for the exhibitors on Saturday morning. Sylvia and Irene and I organised the tables and chairs and covered the whole of the tabletops with lining paper which was a real chore. Tomorrow morning we will put the primary school childrens' work on the walls, which will lighten the austere "look" of the hall a little. Usually the tea tables are left as you see them, so I suggested we cover them with a load of hand embroidered table cloths my mother made in the 1970s. They have never been put to good use and I think donating them to the show would be a nice gesture!. I also suggested we use all the sweat peas from my allotment to decorate each table , so hopefully the place will look a little more "decorative" Yes all very "gay"


we finished around 5pm, and I was glad to hear that the judge for the "best garden " category was very impressed with the cottage garden ( I wont officially hear the results until Saturday though!) I suspect I have not won, but having a commendation would be great.

Chris ha s been to the Flint and Denbigh show today with Janet and the Scotties, who came home covered head to tail with mud and totally exhausted from the stimulation of an animal show.

Rainy day jobs!

There is only one good thing about torrential rain, and that is that it allows you to catch up with those jobs that you often put to one side. After getting a dreadful soaking on the beach,delivering eggs and potatoes, collecting more applications for the flower show (we will be up around 100 % on last years applications!), organising Chris and Janet's picnic for tomorrow's Flint and Denbigh Show and cleaning and feeding the chickens (under an umbrella!) ; I have lit the fire, cleaned up the house and completed those hidden away jobs!

So I have completed the bookings for the kennels for our New York holiday and Christmas; written 2 letters and 6 e-mails to friends; brushed the dogs; tidied up the bureau in the living room; chucked out a load of paperwork and worked out my annual leave for work, which is useful as I am working nights tonight.

I am also very excited as I have booked a table for the famous Rainbow Room in the Rockerfeller Centre! for the Saturday night, when we are in New York! Its on the 65th floor and overlooks the city! I hope we are not sat next to the toilets!

I have just been poked!

Facebook? what's it all about? well I am buggered if I understand it all! This morning I got "poked" by someone I knew but have not seen for a long time, and someone I didn't know asked if I could confirm that I was their friend! Now I worked out that this person is probably a friend of Chris', but how did he know (and why?) to contact me? anyhow I am confused by the whole set up of it. Please can anyone explain it all- answers on a postcard please

The weather deteriorated at 5pm, but I managed to plant a load of Pat choi and iceberg lettuce and tidied up the back garden prior to the garden judging tomorrow.Although the garden looks ok, it is a pity that the flower show wasn't in June when the whole garden was at it's best. Sold a dozen eggs to a passing walker this morning and she asked if she could buy some sweet peas (pic) as the A frame in the allotment is groaning with them! I refused but let her come in a cut herself a large bunch, which she was tickled pink with. Keeping her happy was usefull as she bought a couple of kilos of potatoes and a large bunch of runner beans too!

Trelawnyd Flower Show Pressure

Bit of a reversal of roles today, as I have spent 8 hours at a resus study day and Chris has spent the day cooking, baking and houseworking! He was truly knackered when I got home and had to be congratulated on how neat and tidy the house was! Now I was secretly pleased but it did tickle me that the hoover was still left out in the living room, dirty washing in huge piles on the stairs and the ironing board and iron all left out in the bedroom.....HEY....it's a man's thing!

Anyhow have just sat down after getting things organised for the flower show. Sylvia (show sec) is panicking that only 4 people have entered the village "best garden" category, so I felt a certain amount of pressure to enter ours! (even though all the best flowers have gone over and I have dug up many of the ended herbaceous plants!) So tonight like a madman I have rearranged potted ferns and geranium ( in the dark) to balance the look of the garden, much to the consternation of the dogs who all lined up at the back gate to watch. I also managed to bake a couple of chocolate cakes to be sold at the tea kitchen on the day ( and have not broken it to Chris yet that I suspect he will be helping to sell tea and cakes on the day) Yes blog fans I will be sure and get a photo of THAT ONE!

it's 10.30 pm and I have just cut a few sweet peas for the allotment to encourage a good crop for the show on Saturday, time to walk the dogs and lock up the chickens and a sit down

5 Perseids

Nige is a mine of information and warned us that we may be able to see the perseids meteor shower this evening! ( the best shower until 2013) so with Joan gamely in tow, we stood in the garden, necks craned towards the North East like American rednecks in the 1950's. It was not as exciting as say something out of Deep Impact, but we did see at least five impressive examples! hey ho. and the evening was warm and pleasant