A day at the Show

One of the local shows was on last weekend, so I took Gigi along to see the animals and the ring events. She had an absolute blast and I had a good time too. 

Patting the Farm Babies

I haven't been to a Country Show for a few years and the last time I went, it was pretty sad. There weren't many competitors, nor were there many ring events. All of the Judges, Competitors and Organisers were elderly and I wondered if eventually the whole 'Country Show' would die out. 

However, there seems to be a resurgence of interest and participation in the small Shows. There were lots of families attending the shows; lots of competitors- both young and old; and lots of Organisers of varying ages. 

Hopefully the Shows will be here for some time to come. I'm thinking in future years, I might join the Show Society and volunteer to help out at the Show. I don't want to see the tradition die out, and unless new people take an interest and join up, at some point it'll be no more. 

The Planting Festival

On the weekend- 9th-11th May, The Planting Festival was held at the Woodford Folk Festival site. The Woodford Folk Festival is a six day festival in Woodford held over the Christmas- New Year Period.
In my humble opinion, Woofodford Folk Fest is the best festival ever with an eclectic mix of music, crafts, activities, workshop, talks and people.

Sharing a picnic Morning Tea

Gigi and her new friend helping out

The Festival site used to be a cattle farm, so from an environmental view, pretty degraded.  Over that last twenty years, an army of volunteers have been planting native species, removing weeds and generally improving the site.

Planting a tree

Helpers

This is where the Planting comes in. It started as a weekend of volunteers planting trees and weeding and has evolved into a small festival with music and gardening/composting/ weaving workshops.

It had to be a pink pony

I volunteered to help out at the festival in return for a ticket. Over the Saturday and the Sunday there are two large group planting activities. Gigi and I participated in the first of these on Saturday, as it was family friendly. Needless to say, Gigi loved it. She loves getting dirty, mulching and planting trees. Best of all, there was another little girl the same age to play with. Very quickly the two girls became partners in crime, kicked off their shoes and ran around like crazy.

It was a huge hit

A woolen doll I made with scrap wool

One of the beautiful things about childhood is the ability to instantly connect with other kids. Everywhere at The Planting were groups of kids running around playing- with sticks, with seedpods, in the creek, in a tree. It was fantastic to see the kids playing outside with objects as toys and their imaginations. Not one 'smart device' was to be seen. It was just lovely.





















As for me, I also had a great time. I went to several workshops on working with bamboo and also a weaving workshop. I'm feeling very inspired and will be posting all of my projects as I attempt them.

An orange Tiger!