tea for two

Southminster Flower Show is an event, held in the village I grew up in, that provides an annual opportunity to be transported to my ten-year old self.  Re-visiting it this July after many years of not attending made me realise that no matter how old I am I will always feel the same about the event that meant so much to me as a child. The  year that is most prominent in my memory was the occasion  when I was given the honour of being the Flower Princess’s Attendant  (achieved by entering a ‘draw the flower princess’ competition). This meant that on the big day in July I got to wear a dress with red strawberries printed on it and a straw boater hat and ride in a horse-drawn carriage up the high street followed by a marching band and of course I had to wave to everyone. AND my photograph was in the Essex Chronicle. Clearly a momentous occasion in my life. Other significant Shows were when I entered items into the handicraft competition, although those occasions seem to be less prominent in my memory, perhaps because my handicrafts never won a prize. And of course there was the country dancing, which was excruciatingly embarrassing because the whole village watched as you held hands with boys. Gross.

This year I returned with a feeling of nostalgia and curiosity. This time I was there exhibiting and selling my tea for two stock, and the evening before I was feeling quite intimidated about presenting my handicrafts in front of the well-established handicrafters and W.Iers. I had that feeling in the pit of my stomach once more,  as I did when I was ten; wanting to rush into the handicraft tent as soon as it opened to see if my gift box made of newspaper and ribbon had been awarded a prize, but resisting the urge and somehow managing to keep cool and walk rather than run over to the  right corner if the tent. Usually a swift glance would confirm  that the box had not even won highly commended and  I would need to exit promptly and pretend I had never even entered whilst hunting for the  candy floss stand. Re-entering the handicraft tent this year I had no newspaper box to check on, but I was considering how I might pretend that my button hearts, purses and bags were actually made by someone else, should I feel inadequate compared to the W.I.

It turned out that my worries were not needed. In fact, it would seem that the standard of crafts in the handicraft tent was lower than I remembered. Or perhaps this was a self-created memory to convince myself that I always came second to such skilled crafts-people?! Or perhaps today people have less time to enter handicraft competitions and they have lost their popularity. This made me feel quite sad, as I overheard some of the ladies on the handicraft committee discussing how few entries they had had this year. (The ladies appeared to be exactly the same as when I was ten, so I guess they have a good point of comparison.)

I was cheered somewhat though, by the popularity of my mum’s big knitting stand, where she showed many interested show-goers the thrills of knitting on a giant scale. There is hope for the homemade yet.

It was interesting visiting the show with a whole new appreciation for all things floral and homemade. These elements must have passed me by as a child, but I certainly smiled at their presence this time around. It was particularly apparent in our cake purchasing. After a speedy browse before our handicraft-tent duties, mum and I established that there was a very on-trend  pretty cupcake stand, and also the WI selling cakes – comfortably established with tables and chairs in the Scout Hut. On our way to the Scout Hut it was only polite to stop and inspect said pretty cupcakes, and as anticipated they were very overpriced. Not so anticipated was the fact that the owners of the stall were our old neighbours, and after buying 3 cakes mum confided in me that she ‘felt obliged’ to buy cakes from the people that recognised her. Hmm. This impulse purchase meant we arrived in the Scout Hut clutching our box of pretty cupcakes. Well. The looks we received from the WI as they glanced at our pretty box of on-trend cupcakes were enough to convince us to buy two MORE slices of cake and cups of tea from them, made even worse when the nice lady who works in the doctor’s surgery said ‘Oh. I see you already HAVE some cakes’ in a most disapproving tone. After much assuring that these were simply ‘take home cakes’ and that of course we would have some ‘eat now’ Victoria sponge, I think we were forgiven. And I was happy to get to eat lots of cake with the excuse that we were simply being good Flower Show friends.

Some of my favourite entries…

A Decorated Rubber Glove

Decorate A Wooden Spoon as A Lollipop Lady

Victoria Sandwich Made By A Man (!)

Item of Crochet in Cotton

Enjoyable knits!