Amy, Queen of the Fete

Saturday was our Parish Fete day. We were lucky - the sun shone and the skies were blue, loads of people came and the money rolled in! Amy attended as a competition once more ... this year she was "Guess my Birthday". Here she is proudly sitting next to her prize, a cushion featuring the signs of the Zodiac (made by me!). What you can't see in this photo is her harness,

And it hasn't come out very well in this photo ... it actually gives details of the competition and asks, "Am I a Furgo? Or maybe a Pawsces? I might even be a Hairies! Scpawpio? Or not?" I can hear the collective groan!! Anyway, she did really well, raising nearly £25 which is a lot of 25 pences.

Similar to Amy's prize and available for sale on DevonBear Designs.

And of course Amy always enjoys the opportunity to meet her young fans!

The fete was held in the grounds of Stokenham House which has wonderful views down towards the sweep of Start Bay. The lawns were soon dotted with people simply sitting, enjoying their icecreams and the wonderful gardens.

The icecream stall did a roaring trade

So did the raffleWhilst there was face painting, Splat the Rat, a coconut shy and other events in the field. People came from far and wide to enjoy themselves, and it was a hot, happy and totally exhausting afternoon. There was jazz in the Church House Inn, the pub next to the church on the village green and the merry making went on well into the evening. Then we went home, to be met by an irate Ben who demanded to know where Amy had been and why he hadn't gone too!

Maybe next year Ben!

Keeping Busy

I had a great time at Exeter Craft Festival - sold out of loads of stuff and all my little knitted animals have found new homes, not a single one came back with me. I'm so glad I took their photos before they left. I've started on a new family already as I'm hoping to attend the Craft Show at our own village hall in Stokenham. (that's Hester, the new baby elephant at the top of this post.

Of course the village hall is home to lots of other activities including our very own Lunch Club. Last week Elona took baby Sasha in for the first time and we had our photos taken. We're hoping they'll appear in the local newspaper, this must be the first time ever that a pensioners' lunch club has had a baby! (Yes, there are more club members - the seated people - but the photographer couldn't stay until they all arrived).

I've been busy in the garden too - and indulged in a spot of bartering with a lovely lady called Sarah who has her own website, Heading Home. She wanted my paper bunting, and I fell in love with her cabbage patch rabbit. So the deal was done and he now lives in one of my old wooden fruit boxes where I plant courgettes, tomatoes, beans - and the tiny plants are aubergines which everyone tells me I won't be able to grow outside. I'm persevering though - the crates are sheltered in the woodstore which faces due south. The only danger comes from Ben's happily wagging tail when he dashes past on his way out for a walk.

And did you know that in Devon an old superstition stated that if a young woman plucked a rose at midnight on Midsummer Eve and wrapped it in paper it would remain fresh until Christmas Day. If she then wore it on her dress it would be snatched away by the young man who was destined to become her husband. Now I'm not looking for a new husband (one is definitely enough!) so I brought these roses inside to admire instead.

Finally, Amy has become unbearable. Last year she was a competition at the village fete - "Guess the Weight of the Dog." This year she is returning by popular demand - yes, she was such a success and so popular that they want her back again! She is absolutely full of herself, and this time the competition is to be "Guess Amy's Birthday."

Here she is in her special outfit from last year - I expect she'll want a new one this time round - still it will keep me even busier - there's never time to be bored down here in Devon!!

Amy's accident - and a new idea!

Last weekend Amy was a competition at the village fete - "Guess the weight of the dog". Here she is wearing her special harness complete with bunting! She of course had a great time as the centre of attention, and I went along to act as her minder. I spent a couple of hours accepting people's twenty-pences and recording their estimates of her rather too substantial weight. This was great fun, especially as helpers received free cups of tea all afternoon!

You can see in the photo above that she stands with her bum very rounded and her back legs tucked under her at an angle. She also walks in a crooked fashion due to a spinal injury sustained in her earlier life when she used to do water rescue work. She has a huge jagged scar running all the way down her back and can't raise her tail - it's a very funny shape having been broken in several places. She does the cutest little wag of just the tip when she's really happy, and she isn't in any pain now (except on damp mornings) as she is on medication from the vet. She still loves swimming which is the best therapy of all for her.

Is this a happy dog? I think so!

Anyway, all that time spent contemplating the roundness of Amy's backside started me thinking ... and I've come up with THE AMIE BAG!!!

Note how perfectly the shape of the bag corresponds to the shape of the sleeping Amy. Do you think this is a legitimate design technique? Should I offer myself as a special speaker on design courses? Probably not ... but I still think the Amie Bag looks really good. Vintage linen too, so recycled - just like Amy! It will have its debut on the DevonBears stall at the Saltram Craft Fair next month, so I hope the customers there like it too!!

Strawberries and more ...

I love strawberries ..... and our friends the MacIntoshes have the most wonderful strawberry patch ... full of the juiciest, sweetest berries. And, like all old-fashioned varieties, the fruiting season is relatively short, and once picked the berries don't keep .... but ahhh, the flavour! We've been picking loads and gorging ourselves till we just can't eat any more.. so I painted some (not very well) and then I made some jam ....

Last month I mentioned the old letter concealed in the chimney breast that the builders found when renovations were in hand. Here it is ...

It's hard to read in the picture, but what it actually says is

"Fryday 15 Septr 1837

Enclosed in a cupboard being part of an old chimney built time out of mind lately belonging to and rebuilt in all its parts this House (save this Chimney) in the Year of our Lord Jesus Christ 1812 by the late James Torring Esq and now altered improved & beautifyed by me the Owner a newspaper being enclosed with it describing among other things the Funeral of our late King Wm 4th it now being the first year of the reign of Victoria a young Lady of great promise.

Robt Webb"

And that's it. I haven't been able to find out anything about Robert Webb, but do know that the back part of the house where the cobb walls are 2 feet or more thick dates back to at least Tudor times, whilst the front is definitely Georgian. I think Robert must have been the gentleman who laid our wonderful hall floor and I think of him every time I sweep and mop it (rather more often than I would like thanks to those newfies!)

And having mentioned the newfies ... it was our village fete last weekend. Sadly it rained and rained and rained and we had to hold the event in the hall. Having made all our preparations though, we carried on and it was a great success. Our most important task here at Coombe Leigh was to create a special harness for Amy to wear on her big day - for of course Amy was a competition in her own right!

She loved it!! She preened and posed, delighted to be the centre of attention - and raised £21.45 - which is a lot of 20 pences!! (No, I'm not sure where the 5p came from either!)

Amy was trained to do water rescue work before I adopted her following her accident. Interestingly, when I put the harness on her she puffed out her not insubstantial chest, and became very serious and important - I don't know if she thought she was going to be working again. She did actually save a little girl once, bringing her in from the sea at Looe, and was in the local press. But she's been resting on her ever more substantial laurels ever since. In fact she weighed in at 10 stone 11 lbs!!

As usual, Ben gets the final laugh!! (He's simply impossible to ignore)