On with the show...

After the non-event that was the Royal Lancashire show last year, cancelled due to rain, we decided to make the effort to get to a few shows this year. One reason we missed shows last year was because they were happening earlier than I expected and also many take place in the middle of the week. So we decided, after advice (and some free tickets), to go to the Great Yorkshire and Great Eccleston shows.

Arriving at the Harrogate showground at 7.25am on the Tuesday morning I was surprised to see just how busy it was. We were lucky in that we got a car park close by the showground as, when we were leaving around 5pm, some of the fields to park in were a long way from the entrance. So, after a quick boiled egg / coffee breakfast, we hit the animal sheds.

The GYS is huge. And busy. There were breeds of animal I had never even heard of, in colours / styles I didn’t think were possible. I think photos show more than words.

Steam cleaning the cows before giving them a blowdry to make their hair curl...

Better quality equipment than anything I've seen inside a salon was used with care...
Getting the sheep ready with a final trim...Taking the pigs for a walk in the show ring (these are Berkshires)...Ugly sheep. A Texel, bred for quality of carcase rather than personality...Beef cattle, showing their thighs. I think these were Limousin...
Holstein-Friesians, with their bags full and looking painful...Some cheese to look at, because you couldn't buy it there...

In stark contrast to the warm sun in Harrogate, the day of the Great Eccleston show dawned dark and dreary. We decided to chance it, driving up the M61 past Chorley in torrential rain. By the time we got past Preston it had slowed to a trickle and arriving at the showground it was cloudy but dry, with hints of sunshine poking through the clouds. A lovely site, with views across to Bowland and the smell of country in the air.

Again, photos do more justice than the words.
Saying hello to English white pigs the day after a Saddleback boar made a run for it - to the bar.Anglo-Nubian goats, becoming our preferred choice for the future...A load of bull, probably a ton and a half load and not something I wanted to get too near...Tractor-pulling, the noisy, and seemingly pointless, thing that modern farmers do...Of course, some Shetland sheep after they cleaned up the awards...The sheep show, an informative and amusing look at sheep through the ages...Finally, what to do when there's no television. Eat your sandwiches, watch your cow.

Thanks to Tony and Kath for tickets to Great Yorks and, as ever, to Agnieszka for the lovely photos.

A stitch in time...

It is true that a stitch in time saves nine because if I’d written this the week after, it would have been posted. But I didn’t and, as time went by, it got harder and harder to post. Anyway, it is here now.
A recent trip to Wool-Fest (http://www.woolfest.co.uk/), held in Cockermouth, was a real eye-opener. We went there on a mini-bus organised by our knitting circle, the Knitting Noras, more out of curiosity than anything. It was amazing, and really brought home how little I actually know about wool and fibre. All shades under the sun, in all blends of fibre, from pure wool to bamboo and soy bean fibre, plus everything you could possibly want to knit, spin or crochet. There were even a few sheep and alpacas there, to show where the yarn begins.
We were there for about four hours and had a good look round. It isn’t cheap, but the quality is excellent and most stallholders were pleasant and helpful (are you reading this narky old bag on the book stall?), although there was an amusing reversal of the ‘woman asking a plumber’ scenario when I asked one of the stallholders about a type of wool / sock. When she replied, she looked only at Agnieszka. It was only when I pointed out that it was me who did the knitting did she talk to me properly.
A wedding dress, made from Wensleydale fleece / wool and worn at a sheep-infused wedding.