3 Well-organised Events! (on different scales)

OH went out to a boxing match on Friday evening so, instead of meeting our usual gang for drinks, I took the opportunity for some 'me' time and stayed in to watch the whole 3+ hours of the Olympic Games Opening Ceremony while doing some hand-quilting.  I'm so glad I did!!  It was an amazing feat of organisation and with so much to see it was difficult to take it all in.   Highlights for me were; the REAL queen with the fictional James Bond; the fireworks; the 'forging' of the Olympic rings and, to top it all, the stunning cauldron!!

A new flight of stairs up to one of the castle towers, which had been closed off for many years due to the dangerous state of the original stairs.

OH and I popped into our local  Castle the other week during a walk.  There was a company of re-enacters showing the mediaeval way of life and demonstrating different sorts of battle-dress and weapons in simulated fights.



The view from the newly opened tower that I haven't seen for a long time.  These children are trying archery.

 I started to take pics of the action but remembered how people can be 'funny' about taking photos of children.  I became suddenly self-conscious and stopped snapping, so didn't get anything decent to show.

 This is another view from the newly opened tower across to the higher main tower that has always been open.  I've climbed that tower many, many times and also, in my childhood, climbed on and into many places where the public were not allowed. ;-)



Demonstrating how to use a coracle

The organisers of the Royal Welsh Agricultural Show must have been very grateful for the good weather they had for the week.  OH and I went on the Tuesday and it was positively sweltering!  A bit too hot for me, if I'm honest, but I shouldn't say it too loudly because it really was lovely to see the sun and a welcome break from the rain.  The last time we went to the show was about 7 years ago when OH received an award for working 30yrs in forestry with the same employer. 

I don't know how we managed it, but we spent the whole day at the show and found plenty to do without actually seeing a single farm animal or entering a single marquee!  Being a forester and owner of 2 vintage tractors OH was interested in the machinery so we spent quite a bit of time in that section, which was thankfully less crowded than the trade stalls.  The tractor above is the same as one of OHs and is the same age as me.  I hope I'm wearing as well!!

We sat on the bank of the main ring for a while to watch the Ukranian Cosacs perform their amazing horseback skills but couldn't bear the heat any longer - it seemed to be concentrated on that bank.  So we popped along to see DS's girlfriends parents, who had a stand selling stock feeders, taking them some grapes and still-warm doughnuts for some afternoon munchies, before heading for home. 

Progress since last time:

Quilt-as-you-go-quilt - I'm finally in the process of hand-quilting the last block after deciding to concentrate on finishing (if not a whole project then at least) one stage.

Bye for now

Teresa x