Rain stopped play

Sheltering from the rain

 At the Community Orchard we celebrated the coming of Autumn by opening it up for Heritage Week. Our spot was 2-5pm on Saturday afternoon. We also hosted the Scarecrow festival at the same time. All this needed a bit of planning. The only thing you can't plan for is rain. 

Because we are still experiencing vandalism, I thought it would be a good idea to get to the orchard by 11 to set up the gazeboes and the rest of the stuff we need to make the orchard ready for our event. Normally we would have got things ready on the Thursday and left it out until the day. No more. When we got there, the "Stickman" scarecrow had been broken up by vandals  - what a surprise! Danielle had worked hard to get it made. This time she needed help to fix it. It was unusually hot in the morning. I sweated my way to getting the place ready. We used wheelbarrows to empty my car full of beer, cakes and gazebos. That alone was an effort. At the same time the Wildlife Trust and the Town Council put up their stalls. For a couple of hours it was "All Go!"

The stickman

People came wandering through the orchard from early morning on, following their Scarecrow trail. Ours was on the floor in bits. This was a  big message to the local community that there are idiots living close by! We advertised the afternoon event and most people were keen to come back. By opening time when the music started and the refreshments were ready, the place was packed. We were heading for an all time best event. Then it rained. People squashed up under the gazebos. It was that heavy, wet rain you just can't go out in. Soon as it eased most people left. For the rest of the afternoon it was quiet - apart from the music. One of the cakes I made was untouched. Maybe it didn't look appetizing - nonetheless, it is always a kick in the teeth when no one wants to eat the food you make. 

Juicing

Childrens' artwork

By 5pm the event had fizzled out, dampened by the rain no doubt. We dismantled the gazebos and put everything away. I was exhausted and I hadn't done any exercise for two days! When I got home, I spread the wet canopies out across my floor and then got up early on Sunday morning to fold them up. Sunday, of course, was a sunny day - a perfect day for tennis. If only it had rained overnight and not in the middle of our event things would have been so different. C'est la vie.