I was Mr Sleepyhead yesterday as I had only managed a couple of hours of fretful sleep on Friday night. Shirley had managed to requisition most of the duvet and I kept playing the passport movie in my head, moaning silently with self-recrimination.
Around midday, it was time to head out to the local primary school's summer fayre. Its purpose was to raise extra money for playground equipment and maintenance.
Naturally, I headed straight for the tombola stall which seemed to be being run by a bunch of incompetents. The queue moved slower than a Costa Rican sloth up a tree. Anyway, after about fourteen hours I managed to reach the front of that line and won a pack of "Frozen" cards, two bottles of flavoured oil, a used cuddly pig and a "Paint Your Own Garden Wellies" set - no doubt an unwanted gift. (American visitors should note that in Britain we call gum boots wellingtons or "wellies" for short).
Phoebe had some glitter applied to her face and had her hair inexpertly sprayed pink and purple. I bought a disappointing carton of vegetable biryani from a stall run by a small bunch of Muslim women.
There she is at our kitchen door holding up said radish. I love the shadow of it on on the door panel - like some kind of cartoon monster. And see how Phoebe has grown. Far from a baby these days. She has become a proper little girl now but we love her more than ever. Filled with character and questions and a joy to be around - just like Little Margot who went to Buxton yesterday with her mama to see a theatrical performance - "In The Night Garden" with Iggle Piggle, Makka Pakka and Upsy Daisy. They missed the summer fayre.
Fond memories of early radishes and the first spring carrots.
ReplyDeletePhoebe looking much older now.
ReplyDeleteWe seemed to have followed the American term, gum boots, as they always were in my childhood, but I think we may be changing to wellies now. I am not really sure, with no mud around where I live.
Good to see you are getting back to your usual self.
ReplyDeleteQuick Q - where were you going such you needed an international license?
Well, you sound like you were a bit crabby at the fayre. I'm glad you felt better after you brought Phoebe home to play. My granddaughter has a K-Pop Demon Hunters tshirt also! They are growing "Up up up" and they're "going to be Golden"!
ReplyDeleteSounds like a typical school fayre (American "fair"). I mean- what can you expect? But it does sound as if Margot and her mama had the better day.
ReplyDeleteHere's a local note you may appreciate. In your travels of N. Florida did you pass through the small and sleepy fishing village Panacea? Many people there work in the fishing industry and wear what I suppose you guys would call Wellingtons. In this area they are often referred to as "Panacea Nikes" though.
Self-recrimination is my favorite meditative technique. Just to state the obvious, the wellies in the box look like someone's backside with their trousers pulled down.
ReplyDeleteThe "wellies" will be a fun project for the grandkids. Do Americans call them gum boots? I never heard that term growing up, but maybe it's just not a southern thing. (Wellies are way too hot for Florida!) Don't beat yourself up over the passport thing. These things happen and though it's unsettling you are hardly to blame.
ReplyDeleteYou're done with self-recrimination, amigo.
ReplyDeletePickpockets abound. I saw them on the Paris Metro in the 1980s.
And in St Peter's Square in Rome. A money belt is de rigueur. Everywhere.
My sister has an account with John Lewis. She made an online purchase.
The following day she received a call, claiming to be from Lewis.
The caller was a young educated man. He said scammers were into her account.
The young man knew exactly what she had purchased and how much she'd spent.
She gave him details of her credit card & bank. He assured her he'd fix the problem.
Later that day she had doubts. She called Lewis. Lewis had made no such call.
She spent an hour at her bank. They connected her to head office in London.
She lost no money. It was close. Trust no one who calls unless you know them.
The shadow cast by Phoebe's radish bulbs could be a Moose.
They say a Moose is a Horse designed by a committee, but we won't go into
Intelligent Design in this blog.
I call wellies rubber boots rather than gum boots. I had an entire post about boots one time and I found people have different names for all sorts of boots.
ReplyDeleteRubber boots or Rain boots in these parts. I have a pair to slosh to and from the shops if I need to go in rainy weather. Phoebe does look quite grown up now. I remember planting radish seeds with my mother, she would mix them with carrot seeds as the radishes were always ready sooner and pulling them left enough room for the carrots to "spread their shoulders".
ReplyDeleteSorry that the school fayre was disappointing on several levels. I hope Phoebe still enjoyed it. She looks so proud and pleased about her first "own" radish!
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