Yell 2011 Agricultural Show

"It's not the winning, it's the taking part ..."

OK so I didn't expect to win any prizes, I've never entered a baking competition before or a photographic competition come to think of it ... but I thought I'd give it a go. You know what I mean, enter into the spirit of it ; make up the numbers. So ... when I saw 3 of these =)

I won a second  place for my chocolate sponge 

                                                    
                                                         

2nd place for my quiche







             2nd place for my picture of Rambo eating "High Tea" on top of a wall !

And a "Well Done" for my picture of the Schoolhouse

                                    

                                            Seriously Chuffed !!

  Who needs the sun with Mr Stripey at your show ?

Weather started well getting wetter as the day progressed. We took our neighbour John down with us, here are some shots from the day .


This is what you CALL a set of horns !

Below is a pure bred Cheviot YEAR OLD tup (a male lamb bred to do the business basically !) One of the largest breeds of sheep. He was a major prize winner and a big nosey lad !

Working dogs are very important so it's only be expected that they're also judge too.

Show winning Pure bred Shetland ewe; looked gorgeous after having a wash & blow dry earlier in the day!

Its hungry work being penned up and look at all day - an old crofter feeds his Shetland gimmer

A Shetland coo with "calf at foot" - another prize winner from Burravoe, she was a healthy fine looking coo.

Of course, Shetland ponies. Mum with her foal - they're so little you just want to put them in your pocket!

A prize winning & very vocal cockeral. Not sure what species he is but he wasn't happy at being looked at!

A fine day - who knows in future years we may even enter livestock! Just to make the numbers up of course.

Sunday I'll be sorting through our pile of salvaged roof tiles we removed, swiftly followed by undercoating some fascia boards.

 Enjoy the rest of your weekends

A Changeable last week but lots got done ...

Fred & Steve (with help from their mate Gareth) have been working hard on the roof all last week and have made real progress in a few short days - it's finally looking like a house again. However  -

in the topsy turvy rollercoaster world that is "Fred-Cheshire-Land" we have to have to accept that the downs are there to make the ups so enjoyable =). This is how I feel  sometimes on a very good day .

All in all Thursday proved to be a bit of a pooh day when Fred realised that the plans vs the actual building were 16 inches out regarding the position of the stairs. Seriously not good news - however many times you say it out loud and shut your eyes, cross your fingers and pray.

Thanks to Cuppaster's excellent Vodafone mobile coverage there then followed roof truss manufacturers talking to builder: builder chin-wagging for 1 hour to chief building controls officer followed up by a semi-helpful conversation with the architect blady blah blah.
  


Sorted. Why so  important? well in such a small house you have absolutely no headspace to play with so this - for a  day only at least - was quite a problem. Problem solved though.



Saturday we spent an enjoyable evening in the Booth of Sound, this is the small croft house near the Ness of Sound, the little island near the Schoolhouse we're renting. We shared a drink with and got to know some new friends. Peter, also a guest, recently moved to Yell and is our Dutch neighbour who lives at the end of the Cuppaster Road; a school-teacher by profession he and Steve started talking about getting boat to get out and start doing some sea fishing ... maybe something like this? watch this space

Nick - who owns Booth of Sound - works as a judge in the field of child protection. Even from just a few meetings we can see he is an interesting & very passionate man immersed in his work around the world that really makes a difference in peoples lives.

He loves dogs, so when we visited we took Digger and Max, who along with his 2 cocker spaniels made for a cosy evening in front of the peat fire in his living room. Whilst it may have been blowing a gale force 9 hooley outside, and whilst we may have DRIVEN the 500m to his house for fear of getting stuck in the bog, it was  - nevertheless - SUMMER. So Pimms was my tipple of the evening.


                                                            Thankyou and goodnigh m'lud =)

xxx

A Bucket, A Big Boudoir and a lovely pair of Valleys

We've had some pretty grey weather up here recently , "the worst summer in 15 years" according to the locals. So the fact that less than 2 working days have been lost to weather is testament to Fred's ability to grit his teeth and get on with it (whilst hating every moment & having a good grumble!)

So at the end of a day, when its dark wet, miserable and blowing a gale force hooley outside .....

I suppose plonking a bucket by a cosy fireplace is as good a place as any to sit and enjoy a quiet fag.

The house continues to take shape and the man of many talents and his hardworking little

scouse mate has been busy

And ..... at a spacious 5m x 6m

This is the master boudoir. It will have 2 large velux in the roof & a window in the gable end.

Here's the man hard at work

If Steve Wilder is looking at this - hope you like the look of our valley =)  !!!!

S&S xx