Going Gently

Thank you,

Yesterday's blog was a lazy collection of photographs .

Today's will be a relaxed collection of words. It's a post about people rather than flowers.

The people who run the Flower Show.

I'll start with the oldest member of the Show committee and as everyone knows that's Auntie Gladys.

She is responsible for the judges tea table ( the judges are all served " tea and scones" before they are expected to go around the exhibits), the bric-a-brac stall and her own raffle. Wisely she delegates the work to a collection of ladies brought in especially for the event and although the stall tables always resemble a car crash in a junk shop, she always raises a considerable amount for show funds.

This year , Gladys looked more frail than I care to remember, and despite her failing eyesight she still ambled around the laden display tables clapping her hands gently and whispering " beautiful and well..that's lovely" to herself. I noticed that Derek, another committee member had gallantly taken Gladys under his wing and had stationed himself alongside her as the Show became busier.

She had him move her raffle table to nearer the entrance as I knew she would

" to catch people when they had money in their hands" she said, with a smile

Our National vegetable judge , the Elvis loving teddy boy, Mr Butler was ticked pink with being asked to judge the blog entries of novelty vegetable. It is now a tradition that Carole , one of our younger committee members accompany him at judging time. He loves a bit of gentle flirting and wanted to show Carole his new Elvis tattoo.

Mr Butler & Carol

Mrs Roberts , the cookery Judge usually takes the longest time with her judging and was accompanied by her daughter and committee member Julie, who is a trained cook and pastry chef herself. In her eighties Mrs Roberts remains cuttingly sharp when faced with any cake not up to standard.

The other two men on the committee are affable characters Terry and John. Terry stewarded the new arts and crafts judge and John supervised the quiet and serious flower judge. Our youngest associate member Cameron, who is just fifteen acted as runner , collecting the winners' names and giving them Derek at the secretary's table so that he and I could write up the certificates which were placed on the tables in readiness for opening

Terry and I always have a good natured spar when it comes to our entries. And this year my quiche , aubergine penguins and boiled fruit cake beat his entries hands down.

" there'll be not living with him" wife Anne commented after I had bellowed out the results

Derek John, Irene, Cameron, Terry, Carol and Annd

The vicar ready to present the cups

It all generally runs like clockwork.

Our matriarch on the committee is Irene, another member of the old guard. She not only is lead when setting up the show he day before opening but like a good west end stage manager, she knows everything that needs doing and when it needs doing.

Nothing is ever missed.

On Show day itself, committee members Pat, Carole and Anne run the kitchen. ( Anne never stops laughing ) and they coped very well with the fact that the water board had been working on the village pipes causing the drinking water in the Hall to turn a rusty brown

" just offer the punters coffee" Anne quipped " they'll never notice.

Hannah, always goes around the tables, and takes the most wonderful of photos , only Heulwen, a lady of calm sweetness , was the only other committee member not able to attend the day.

She was missed too.

The vicar opened the show with a nice nostalgic speech and seemed pleased with a bottle of Bombay sapphire ( non of your rubbish) for doing so. It is tradition that the show opener always gets a small gift

So there you have the committee, they are an eclectic and good natured bunch Through their hard

work and the support of the few hundred competitors, volunteers and interested spectators who made
an effort to give up their time, the show proved to be a success .

In the great scheme of things, it's only a tiny show in a tiny village ....
But it's important to many

And.....it's important to me.

Trelawnyd Flower Show 2014

First , I will pass on the blog news!
Mr Butler, our Elvis loving , national flower judge agreed with some humour , to judge the blogger " novelty veg" competition
The winner was kitty from New Zealand
And second was Rachel's " tits"......
In my speech I told the story of how the whole spectacle came to pass.

I will add a few photos taken by Chris and talented fellow committee member Hannah

And I am off , for a lie down in a dark room.

Suffice to say

Thanks to all involved

Som of the flower show committee

Derek and Auntie Glad

Hey ho

In the end we have recieved 500 entries

150 more than last year!

I have been in the village hall from 8 am

And it's 23.18 and I have just finished my entries

The blogger photos are now decorating the hall

And Rachel's " tits" have a

" please do not touch the exhibits " sign on them!

I'll leave you with MY novelty veg entry

entitled " nosey penguins "

Number Crunching

Auntie Glad at the First Trelawnyd Flower Show

Last year we had our highest number of flower show entries EVER

We received 345 single items

This year, so far, with the support of the villagers ,some non welsh despots

and by the keen Prestatyn flower Show committee members who have jumped in with

their cakes and novelty cucumbers

already we have 307 entries!

Tomorrow is the official day for entries to be in

So I wonder if we will break the record

Watch this space

Thank you all for your support!

It means a lot .

Now it's nearly 11pm and I am just about to check on my quiche
I am worried about a soggy bottom

Hey ho

Heirlooms

I'm tired today. I was up late washing and ironing the tablecloths for the tea tables at the show, each cloth is embroidered with flowers and each one was collected and/or completed by my mother, who went through a phase of needlework during the 1950 s and 1960s

I have very few items handed down to me from my parents. Those I do have ( a simple jam pan, a broken ginger jar ) were items I took from their house before the house clearance chap did his thing., and were items I remembered from being a child.

The tablecloths were a different story.

My mother gave me them in dribs and drabs, often after she had washed and re ironed them. Sometimes, when she was in the mood , she would complete some delicate sewing on an unfinished article, but for the most part she was happy to pass them onto someone who appreciated them... Little did I know then, that they would become part of a traditional country flower show, used every year and appreciated by all who saw them....

Much much better than being shut away in a dark drawer for the remainder of their lives eh?

It feels as though they have " come home"

I'm typing this with a cup of coffee after the first dog walk of the day. Only Albert is awake, he's sat in the window, scanning the field for " The Bastard" who has put in an appearance yet again. (" The Bastard" as you recall, is the feral cat who lives in the nearby field. He bullies Albert mercilessly at times)

Hey ho

Enough of this leisure activity.

I have a novelty vegetable to design

The Great British Bake Off

It's back and thank goodness the BBC has wisely not tampered with the format of the show.
True to form they have carefully chosen the 12 contestants from all areas of cultural and ethnic backgrounds ( though strangely not a gay man is in sight this year)
So we have the 17 year old school girl, the Asian lady from Broadstairs,the ageing Scottish sailor, the straight talking northerner, a geek, a builder from London and a Home Counties grandmother and women's institute stalwart .

Baby faced Martha

Still love it
Wednesdays have just got a little brighter

Samantha's Broken Heart

I did a few jobs and got in around 8.30pm
" there's been a few phone calls for you" Chris muttered
" flower show queries and some woman called Kate about a goose"
He harrumphed
" more waifs and strays , I suppose"
I rang "Kate" back. She sounded frail and worried.
She and her husband had been looking after a couple of her daughter's geese for a few years. The gander had recently died leaving a terribly distraught goose following family members around , constantly distressed , anxious and searching.
The woman sounded at her wits end.
I described my set up here, and although geese are notoriously fickle when it comes to new members of a flock , I offered to take the goose in.
Kate sounded unsure, so I left the ball in her court and told her to visit the field if and when she was passing...the goose, she told me, was called Samantha....and I laughed
" you must be film fan" I said "or at lease a fan of the film Friendly Persuasion?" I told her
The woman was surprised
"You're the first person to ever guess that" she said
( for those that don't know Friendly Persuasion was a 1956 film about a family of Quakers living in the shadow of the American civil war . It starred Dorothy McGuire who had a pet goose called Samantha)

Dorothy McGuire saving Samantha from those damm Yankies

We will see if Samantha arrives...pining animals are notoriously difficult to care for..And I have enough on my plate this week....I am, however, reminded of a story I read a couple of days ago, about an elderly couple who passed away four hours apart after 62 years together...the visual of their last time together is a powerful one