Fun at the Norfolk Show.

Well, I always say that you have to be in it to win it, and that was the case at this years Norfolk Island A&H show.


We were honored to be part of the show and were so excited at the entry price of 50 cents for each item, that I probably entered twice as much as I should have, but as an entry for one of my paintings was $20 at the Sunshine Coast show, 50 cents was a real bargain.


My photography had to be entered a week prior to the show, but on the morning, We had to get up bright and early to pick and label all the hibiscus to enter them By 9am.


I had been up late the night before making a cheesecake, scones and a failed pavlova that wasn't beaten enough, as Teddy woke up at 11pm- ish and said, Mum, could you stop making that noise, I am trying to sleep!


In the end, the kids(who were still asleep when I picked their flowers) and I had entered our scones, cheesecake, cut flowers geraniums,hibiscus and even acalypha leaves,black and white drawings,acrylic paintings,mosaic, jewellery, article in Macrame,hand painted fabric article,sculpture, many photos in black and white and colour and multiples in every subject(about 19 subjects), avocado's &our(very small) carrots,and would have entered our snow peas, but had eaten them all fresh from the garden 2 days earlier.
It was really nice to share our first Norfolk Show with Mandy, Dave and Bronte as well as Emily and Sarah. We watched the girls competing in the equestrian events and both did very well..... see Mary's blog click here http://devonhouse.blogspot.com/ for more details on the show.





We then got to enjoy the rides a horse carousel that I remember being on at the Christmas picnics as a child and a huge blow up slide, we got a showbag, this one contained a whole packet of Tim-Tams.







Then after the opening ceremony, which we ate tim-tams during, we headed inside the hall to excitedly see our prize haul.






As Mary said, Fletcher Christian apartments scooped the prize pool for the hibiscus, with Teddy, Sienna and Bronte winning first, second and third place for the single and double hibiscus and also for the only enries of acalypha leaves(redbush).


I do believe that we have some of the best collection of Hibiscus plants on the Island.


As we walked around the hall, we saw some amazing produce and creativity. We all got prizes, Mary, Kim, the Kids and myself,
I proudly won the best uncooked cheesecake and Kim won the best cooked one.
I also won a 1st, 2nd and 3rd place for my underwater photography and other scattered 2nd's and 3rd's for my other photography(actually,all the underwater photos shown are mine)
and prizes for my mosaic using beach glass that Mandy got off the wall at the last minute to submit, an acrylic painting, jewellery and the funniest one was the only entry in the Macrame section, so I won 1st prize for the friendship bracelet that I had made as a demonstration at Marys a few days before............. see Mary's blog again, under lavender and friendship and you will see how it was made.

My award winning Macrame Everyone looking at a Photo featuring Liam on Bounty day that won first place.

My big laughs(other than winning the above prizes) for the day was Sienna pinching Brandt's dagwood dog's after he had so looked forward to one all year, and when Teddy watched the horseshoe making demonstration, he asked the Smithy if he could make some shoes for his duck as he didn't have a horse!

Sarah, Emily, Anna and Amy in the fancy dress section, their horse is Toto

Bronte with her Adam and Eve vegetable sculptures, she is pointing to Adams extra carrot, not very well hidden behind a parsley leaf.

We all had a fabulous day and can't wait for next year already!

Arrivals

Firstly, I'm sorry that this is a month over due to be written, Spring fever has hit me and I am out in the garden and freshening up the apartments instead of late nights on the computer writing a blog.

Hope you are all enjoying the sunshine too, here is what happened last month.........

Welcome to Norfolk Bronte.

It has been a long wait since April(when Nic was here) for a cousin to arrive for Teddy and Sienna, and it was a long night waiting for them to arrive a few weeks ago.

We watched the plane lights arrive out of the darkness and Mandy(my sister),Dave and Bronte alight from the plane with big waves and smiles, and then the waiting again for them to come through customs.

Teddy waited patiently looking at everyone coming through the doors, Sienna ran around and then laid down on the floor and made angels(like snow or sand angels, without the snow or sand.) Uncle Dave came through the doors first, with huge bags of supplies for us.

Then we got to have a cousin hug at long last!

A catch up and a cup of tea at Mary and Bernies, saw the reunited cousins already getting on well with Bronte reading them stories.

Mary and Mandy and myself catching up on craft magazines, while Basil the cat grabs a lap to purr on.

On day 2 which was really day 1 because of the late evening arrival saw us unpacking parcels of gratefully received items, *Note, if you are coming to Norfolk, always bring Nappies, they will be most welcome, as they(and toilet paper and cereal) arrive by ship and are light but bulky, but the freight is charged by volume. see also McDonalds toys which are pounced on by the kids like treasure, even though we hardly ever went to McDonalds before we moved to Norfolk.

Charles sitting behind one of my towers of nappies and wipes, also my new mini drill and engraver, just wait to see what I can make from that.

That day, Sarah and Emily(my Cousin Miriam in NZ's girls) arrived on the kiwi plane and in the night it was time to celebrate.

Mandy and Daves big 10th wedding anniversary, I was their bridesmaid and it was wonderful to share the occasion again with them.

See more on Mary's blog page, Devonhouse recollections- http://devonhouse.blogspot.com/

We celebrated their 10th anniversary with a fish fry at Devon house which was lovely, I attempted a chocolate cheesecake for them which worked out so well, that I entered one in the Norfolk show(more about that in the next blog..........

While we were enjoying dessert, we looked over to see someone else enjoying Sienna's ice cream.

She was quite happily sharing with Roany the dog, using the same spoon and even Digby got the last spoonful.

It was a funny end to a great night.