Well , you know how it is. A 5 day week is something we left behind in Lancashire although Steve & I are making sure we have at least one day off a week.
As a girl, I have to admit that the final stripping out of the old croft was scariest. When we removed all the interior of the roof we got covered in 40 years of dust and grime ... and cobwebs. (see previous blog entry for pix) Thank the lord I only saw one baby spider; I can only imagine that to the lovely Emma T, that roofspace would have been as frightening as her recent trips to the dentist as she's something of an arachnaphobe too.
So after a quick hose down with the pressure washer, we made our way down to Burravoe for 7pm where the newly instated Burravoe Carnival was starting. Even though it's only in its second year now they put on a great show and the floats (or "flotts" as it's pronounced locally) were really well done - each collecting for their own charity.
This was the float from Burravoe Primary School all saying "hello" in languages and dress of different countries of the world
The crowds walked a slow pace to accompany the procession as it made its way back to Burravoe Hall along a stretch of road closed by the police (the first we'd seen in 6 weeks) Our roadside path was an abundance of wild flowers including hundreds of early purple orchids.
So the "flotts" were judged and prizes awarded, tasty barbecue visited (frequently by the Builder & Baker) we all mingled outside enjoying the warm dry summers evening.
This was the winning float "Steve's Superstars", Steve was a young 26year old local lad who died last year from heart related problems. In memory of him, and for the British Heart Foundation all his pals dressed up as different superstars (including Spiderman for those of you who remember Sams party!) and danced away to their theme tunes like Tom & Jerry & Whacky Races . They won £100 to donate to their charity along with everything else they collected in the buckets.
The Vikings were present with the West Yell Jarl Squad there singing us the odd manly song too. At first sight, you might think that you really wouldn't want to meet one of these gents down a dark alley, but the ones we spoke to were big softies .... all ending up rather drunk at the end of the evening.
Oh yes, the bar. £4.50 for a round of 3 drinks. Say no more .
So after being some of the first to leave (only the parents with youngsters had left about 12), we wended our way home at 01:15am. We were a trio of Larry Lightweights compared to our hosts for the evening with many of the remaining crowds being over 60! Once again, a very friendly bunch of people and a fun but relaxing wind down at the end of the week.
As they say , we work hard and we play hard. I would like to say there were 2 sore heads on Sunday, only 1 though (Fred's unfortunately) ... as for Steve? up at 7:30 on a sunny morning to go up to the croft to mend fences. He's hardcore !
