An Afternoon at a Country Show

Today I woke up feeling ok-ish. That’s quite an achievement in its self but I was extra thankful given that today is the day of The North Lonsdale Show.

In a nutshell, it’s a country and livestock show about 10 minutes drive from my house. I have pretty fond memories of going when I was younger, amazed that there were so many types of sheep, chicken, horse, cow. As with all things like this, I was a little worried that my rose tinted memories of it just wouldn’t live up but Mum and I decided to go anyway and thankfully, that wasn’t the case.

Just like when I was little, I walked around the sheep pens, choosing my favourite. This time it was the Kerry Hill:

I loved the panda like markings around the eyes. They seemed like a gentle breed too which always wins points in my book. The judges weren’t looking for cuteness, but these had plenty of rosettes anyway.

Next we managed to catch the youngest handlers with their calves. What’s cuter than little people dressed in uniforms, leading a baby animal? Not much.  This little boy had a particularly boisterous bullock that provided some comedy moments when it decided the grass looked good or fancied a rest. Never the less, the kids looked proud as punch showing off their stock.

We watched for the tags coming past to catch names. Dorly Norma was my favourite.

We headed towards a row of big white tents full of peas, squash, Victoria Sponges, flower arrangements and art. WI would have had a field day.

I enjoyed looking at the junior entries, particularly the new category for this year ‘mixed medium mobile phone case’, most equipped with some form of cardboard cushioning.  I’m not quite sure what the judges were looking for in the winning entry but it was nice to see the show “moving with the times”.

If I had to judge a category though, it would be the ‘home brewed alcohol’. There were so many types of gin and of course the judges need to sample them all. I could think of worse things to do on a sunny afternoon.

The flower arrangements were pretty but not really my thing. Do any of you green thumbs know what these are? They were my favourite.

After a wander around the crafts, we were ready for some food. As a child I remember people selling freshly squeezed juices and burgers as big as my face. I mean, where better to buy a burger than a livestock show? The queue was huge today but our noses led us to something much more exciting:

How awesome do they look? You don’t get smoked fish any fresher than this. I’m a bit of a smoked food fiend too so of course we had to get some. The kind gent took 5 small kippers straight from the smoker for us for the show special price of 5 for £5. There were plenty of dessert options too:

Last but not least, a show wouldn’t be complete without a fairground and a fortune teller. There were plenty of bouncy castles, trampolines and slides, I was just disappointed I didn’t have one of my friend’s kids with me to “help out” on a ride.

The Romany Gypsy’s tent was rather quiet when we walked past. Have you ever have your palm or tarot cards read? I think fortunes are best left untold.We made it back to the car just before the heavens opened – perfect timing.

Home dry, I warmed up a kipper for an afternoon snack using the Smoker’s secret to no stink kipper cooking: heat a skillet on high, add a knob of butter then take it outside, adding the kipper and turning it every thirty seconds until heated through. Lovely hot kipper, no smelly house.

Today was a success I think. It was nice to go on a little adventure.