Life Resumes after the Games

It’s all over for another year. We had a grand time. I hope to gather in some pictures in the next few days – I didn’t do very many, myself.

I’ll begin, however, in elegiac mode: that’s what the driveway looks like when the last car has gone, and my husband and I are alone again.



Games Day

Here is a picture of our entries, early in the morning, gathered on the table ready for the trip up to the Home Industries Tent. The Decorated Flower Pots are missing. Alistair and Rachel each did one, and they had gone up the night before when we took cars up to get a good place for our tailgate picnic.



In the back row, the basket contains my Collection of Four Vegetables (Swiss chard, courgettes, purple French beans, and broad beans, in the end); next to it, the shrug. Then, further forward, Three Potatoes, Two Muesli Slices (Rachel’s daughter Lizzie Ogden), a Vegetable Animal (cucumber-turned-lizard by Kirsty Miles, James’ and Cathy’s youngest) and Three Oatmeal Biscuits (Lizzie again).

How did we fare? Poor Lizzie’s baking, my four vegetables, and Alistair’s Decorated Flower Pot were unplaced. I got a Third, out of three, for the shrug, and another Third, out of six, for the potatoes. Kirsty got a Second for her Vegetable Animal, in a strong field, and Rachel a First for her Decorated Flower Pot.

Here is a show bench view of the shrugs, and the potatoes. My loyal followers claim I was robbed. We’ve heard that before. What I want is to win.




More Games news in the days to follow.

Knitting

I finished row 69, did 70, and started 71 of the Princess border last night. There are 220 rows in the border, so the next big landmark will be somewhere in row 74, when I’ll be 1/3rd of the way through. I hope that the present Princess-knitting period will carry me all the way up to 110. Every job seems more manageable when it’s half done.

I hope to block the Long Shawl today, but there’s an awful lot of life to catch up on.

I won VKB’s 24 and 34 on eBay while we were away, with Alistair’s enthusiastic help as previously mentioned. 34 was pretty cheap. That’s a very good idea, Kate, about buying duplicates when they’re cheap (and eBay seems very unpredictable, on that point) and using them to fund my habit, but I don’t think I have the strength.