ChocMonsterLand

Another day, another field, this could only means we were at another show on our list. This time we headed over the top of the Pennines to a small town called Brough. After finding the field we set up and waited to see what would happen.

The organisers kindly put us right next to where the horses had to walk from their boxes to the show rings. This meant lots of people saw us and during a rain shower we had one very interesting visitor – Snoopy the Shetland pony!

He was waiting for his class and we thought it would be a shame if he got wet after already having had a bath that morning. He certainly gained a lot of attention with kids wanting to talk to him and have their photo taken. In fact he became a feature of our stand on and off during the day and we were even entrusted with his care for a while as his owner had to sort out her dogs.

We did think about taking him home with us to use at the other shows but our dog Jip wasn’t too sure about being upstaged!

Even a driver who has completed for the top teams in Formula One can fade in some fans memories!

BBC TV Sport’s Andrew Benson in Valencia:

“Ate in the same restaurant last night as Eddie Jordan, among whose companions were former Ferrari and McLaren F1 driver Stefan Johansson.

When EJ and friends came over for a chat late on, Eddie was accosted by an enthusiastic Danish fan, who wanted his photo taken with him.

EJ beckoned Johansson over, saying to the Dane: ‘You’ll want Stefan in it, too, I’m sure.’ ‘Oh, you were a racing driver, too?’ said the man. Ouch.”

Generally I’m a happy person but sometimes even my patience is tried when other people annoy me…

1.30am Sunday Morning – A young couple decide that outside my house is a good place to have a blazing row. She seems to think that wandering around without shoes is a good idea. From what I can understand he doesn’t believe her about something, perhaps it was the story of how she lost the footwear. Eventually they shut up and go away.

9am Sunday Morning – Some dear soul thinks that instead of a peaceful lie in the street should be forced to listen to the kind of music which doesn’t have lyrics but does have a bass drum which makes the bed shake. Put my own radio on to drown it out and promise to track down the noise if it’s still going on when I’ve got up. Luckily for them they must have guessed my intentions and turn it off before I climb out of bed.

11am Sunday Morning – I’ve got the plasterers coming in less than a week and need to take the polysterene tiles off the ceiling in the room they are doing. Half an hour later I look like I’ve been in a snow globe, my hair, my clothes, they are all covered in small while balls which the tiles break into when attacked. I now hate with a vengence both the person who invented these things and the previous owners who put them up.

8pm – Sunday Evening – Having roasted a chicken, enjoyed a lovely meal and a Magnum ice cream a strange mechanical noise assaults my ears. It sounds like a chain saw but can’t be (no trees nearby!), I turn the TV volume down, nope it’s not coming from there. Then I spot them, a group of “youths” across the street from my house. They have a petrol powered remote control car, sadly they haven’t a clue about how to drive it and are just revving the engine. Thankfully after five minutes they get bored and take it home.

Anyone else want to annoy me today???

We are now well into the season of agricultural shows, the time in the summer when the farmers come out of the fields for a day exhibiting their best stock while their wives vie for the title of best pot of strawberry jam or fruit cake. It’s a tradition which goes back hundreds of years and one that I hope will be going for hundreds more.

We love these shows, yes they are hard work but they also give us a chance to get out and about across the North of England. In the past fortnight we’ve done 4 shows, each have their own characters.

Borrowby near Thirsk was a bit of a disappointment. They were far too hung up on demanding to see our insurance policies incase someone tripped over the horsebox ramp than to keep a control on what the paying spectators were doing. We witnessed many a near miss as people who had paid £5 for ringside parking drove wherever they felt like it on the show field putting everyone else in danger. Don’t think we’ll be going back there.

Tockwith near Weatherby was a pleasant surprise, not least because of the ringside parking position they gave us when this was our first year at their event. Sadly the rain was heavy all day which kept some of the spectators away but we were busy for most of the time and had many compliments on the horsebox. The one person who hated us being there was from a horse trailer manufacturer, if looks could kill we would have been dead by lunchtime!

Next up was a trip over the North Yorkshire Moors to Thornton Le Dale. The mist descended as we aimed for Sutton Bank and as we drove through the very pretty towns we thought we were in for another wet day. Thankfully after setting up and surviving a couple of large showers the spectators came out along with the sun. This show is just waht you’d expect, horses, sheep, cows, pigs, goats, old tractors, stalls of things you never knew you really wanted and tents full of handicrafts and produce. A long day but some good talks with potential customers and the treat of fish & chips while parked in a layby with a beautiful view on the way home!

Saturday 8th August saw us heading on the quick trip to Sedgefield. We’d done this show a few years back so unlike the previous three knew where we were going and what the showfield would be like. We were unpacked and lucky enough to spend some time enjoying the bright sunshine. This show proved interesting as we had more people asking us about converting vehicles for their dogs than their horses, something else to add to the list. Only downside of this show were the lack of toilet facilities, 4 ladies loos for thousands of visitors just doesn’t work!

Next show is up on the top of the Pennines at Brough, another one we’ve never done before so should be interesting…

The main joy of growing veg in your own back yard is being able to wander out and harvest just enough to go with that nights dinner. While my tomatoes aren’t ready yet (still green) my runner beans and carrots are just ready to use. They taste lovely too!

I knew it couldn’t last. First of all I fell for Facebook and now I’ve been turned on to Twitter. I started off just looking on it to see what other people were getting up to but then I just had to comment and now I’ve even posted my own updates. It’s addictive!!!!

The Great Yorkshire Show is over for another year. It’s a strange event, it’s almost like Christmas in that there is a big run up period, lots of activity to get things ready for it. Three frantic days when the Show is on and then a very deflated feeling afterwards.

As in previous years we stayed on the site which gives you a chance to wander around when the public isn’t around. From seeing behind the scenes, looking at stands without people pushing you around and meeting other trade exhibitors in the washrooms it’s all a little world of it’s own.

On Thursday morning the sun was rising so I headed out at 7am to see what was going on, the answer I found was many of the horse classes and lots of cows being power washed!

Apart from a run in with one trade exhibitor, who didn’t seem to think that the rules applied to her, all of the people we met were very nice.

Can’t wait to head back there next year!

The Corsa Motorsport team made history at Lime Rock when they ran their Ginetta-Zytek car in full electric hybrid specification in an ALMS race for the first time.

Running a system which uses the force of the vehicle to power batteries and in turn gives them more speed the car ran smoothly thought they race. The only minor hitch being some bodywork flying off.

Stefan’s co-driver Johnny Mowlem started the race and kept the car in a potential podium position. Stefan did the longer stint and battled with Jon Field but the Corsa car soon pulled away and headed on to gain overall 3rd place in the race.

Congratulations to everyone involved!

Since the last time I posted they’ve changed everything around!

Can’t find half of the stuff I used to use and the other things are in different places. I don’t even like the look of my own blog anymore. Might have to do something radical, until then I’ll try to figure it all out.