Ahhh, the country life!

Last weekend was "the Samford Show". Its what in New Zealand (I am told) is called a "P&A" show (a pastoral and agricultural show). Despite the fact that having a Chaplaincy presence there meant that I have been working every day since school resumed a week ago last Monday, the show was great fun.

Some of the highlights for me were the entertainment (naturally):

There's almost nothing a woman enjoys more than the delicate strains of a massed pipe and drum tattoo at 8:30 on a Saturday morning is there? Well, maybe sparkly nailpolish, but don't quote me on that....

Then there were the competitions. I don't know about you, but I have never seen a prize winning zucchini before. And, if, like me, you too are new to the world of competitive vegetabulary, allow me to share....


How awesome. How rare! So THIS is what a gold-medal zucchini looks like!!


Then there were the champion citrus fruits:




And of course, Mrs.Robertson's prize-winning ginger cookies:




I have to admit, I have no idea why the judges were so hard on these custard apples, but I can only share the pain they must feel at having been damned with the faint praise of an "honourable mention"


Did they say something wrong? Were they the underdog - training in secret and praying for glory but falling short at the last moment? And yet were the judges moved to support them in their quest for the gold anyway?

Did they fail to slip the commitee a fiver???

We may never know.

Still, Bruce managed to put his marksmanship skills to the test:




I was lucky to escape with my life. I suppose our game of "Lenin and the Bolshevik Maiden" might have ended badly, but I digress...

Fortunately, Bruce's attempts to teach his son to drive were someting of a success....


.... they both lived.

How I look forward to next year..............