alan with a paper hat on
esther made this hat in sunday school. people were keen to try it on. i was keen to take their photo.
church
We’re doigna series on Judges at church. We’ve reached Samson and i felt sadness at my lost hair. But in the scale of things it’s not an issue.
imposter
all together now “one of these kids is not like the other one …”
tug ‘o’ war
the highlight of the country fair is the tug ‘o’ war. local kids get to take on the local cadets and prove once and for all who is the bestest. i suspect it’s where the local gangs setlle their scores. it’s a very passionate occasion.
of course the civilians won and against the military which was a nice post-iraq statement (in its own way):
this man is a complete star. he comperes the show all day by basically speaking for 7 hours solid and saying whatever comes in to his head. it’s completely mad and really funny. probably drives his wife mad.
it wouldn’t surprise me if he organises the entire show so he can do his compering turn. whatever, he’s the highlight for me each year.
he was in charge of setting up the rope for the tug’o’war as well as judging the winners:
after the matches this man came and took the rope away (i suspect he was going to sell the old thing for cash):
but what of the local kids who’d been whooped up and wished to celebrate their winnings ? well, they had a massive playfight in the middle of the ring, watching by dozens of bemused spectators:
best dressed woman award
it was the hurst horse show and contry fair this afternoon. bit wet but lots of fun. one of my favourite bits was this lady who did a turn dancing with her dog to lo-fi music over the tannoy system. it was quite remarkable.
but you would have guessed that to look at her.
more balloons
just in case we hadn’t had enough balloons today, kezia and esther got another one.
mud bath
here is a bollard homage to the glastonbury festival, but a couple of hours drive away from here.
butterfly
reading was full of people giving away balloons today. We were offered 9 balloons in the 2 hours we were there. we took just three (one each for the girls and then this butterfly).
sharp saleslady
this lady was selling knives in a reputable department store so i don’t think she was diddling people. But she was really funny to listen to. Partly her accent but mostly her patter.
she opened her pitch by saying “these are the world’s most advertised knives” and along the way cut a chunk out of her bread board and the end off a hammer.
“these knives stay sharp forever, so you’ll never have to buy another one” and then a few minutes later, “Buy one today and i’ll give you two more for free, and i’ll even throw in 2 other knives”.
So, like i only need one of these for the rest of my life, but you are going to give me 5 ? Needless to say we didn’t buy any, but i did enjoy the show !
messy meals
i took esther and kezia to mcdonald’s today. i was amazed at how much mess they made. kezia insists on turning her cup upside down when drinking with a straw and esther managed to drop her ice-cream tub on her lap.
an old miserable couple sat on the table next to us and muttered to each other every time they made another little mess.
“GET A LIFE, THIS IS McDONALD’S” (i nearly said)
window dog
here is a no dogs sign from the Oracle centre in Reading. It’s on the glass so is a bit tricky to see.
tickets available from the ticket office
i like this sign. it’s appeared at my local train station in the ticket office.
it’s nice that it’s a ‘special notice’ but i think it’s probably not following the tain house-style.
more music
another day, another church, another (very loud) band practice.
esther playing
i did another early start this morning and by the time the kids woke up i’d already done a good half day’s work. i’ve been reviewing a stupidly document and didn’t notice esther come in and set herself up ready to play her guitar.
what followed was a pleasant pre-breakfast serenade.
our church again
we had a band practice at church last night (the second of three nights running for band practices this week).
it had finally stopped raining and the sun came out. it looked very pretty so i took a couple of photos.
hoorah for june and late night opening (but the nights are drawing in now)
here is the church:
and here is the field behind the church:
lynda’s birthday
it’s lynda’s birthday on monday so we celebrated at a music practice last night witha cake.
i’ve pixelated the candles so you can’t see how old she is. that’s not right and proper apparently. see how she points at the tea cups.
