My birthday for a start as I have made it to 63. Decided to go out on Wednesday rather than June 1 as we had to move animals around. So a night of sin was planned at Charlton House, only not sin any more as we are married. We were in the Garden room which was new and, would you believe, in the garden, so lovely. Dinner good too!
Then it was back to the Royal Bath & West where Chas was running the trade stand and I was doing the showing. Luckily I found lots of helpers or I would have been stuffed. We did OK with four championships, three reserve championships, dam’s progeny, sire’s progeny, Best of British and ten first place rosettes. This year we had to do a turn in the Countryside Arena every afternoon with Moonsbrook Mel doing the commentary which should help to make people more aware of alpacas.
Shattered when we got home on Saturday evening, we were taking down the marquee just as the rain started. We watched the flotilla on telly and the big concert. Amazing to see Sir Cliff bound on to the stage and he can still sing which is more than can be said for Paul McCartney who should give up trying for the high notes – agonising. I loved the fireworks, good thing no one could see me on the sofa going ‘ooh’ etc! My brother came over with my birthday presents – lots of rose, an enormous bunch of his beautiful peonies, they are the most outrageous flowers, and asparagus. He noticed the strange zombie corpse like figures outside various houses between Withleigh and Tiverton. They are replicas of the Queen, one in riding gear, a whole load stood up on pavements, by a fence, attached to a telegraph pole, a coach and horses with the two of them on the side of a house and one sat on a chair with a corgi. We cannot fathom quite why these people made them but they look very odd indeed. Amazing there were no car crashes.