Saturday, June 14, 2014

parade, fair, fete, fun

hello there


yes, i know. toothpaste, partial glimpses of haircut and now the big village day out. it is all kicking off here, as it were, and it's still a good 6 or so hours to go before that England vs Italy, or if you like Italy vs England, match. a busy, long day and night ahead, then.

today was indeed the day of the village fair, or fete, or even parade. or combination thereof, really, as it was in equal parts all of them, but just go with whatever word is correct and use that. the skies this morning contained elements of drizzle, threatening at any stage to burst open and upon us all. it is with some thanks that it did not, and all of us could enjoy the day out in a way that was characterised, or even characterized, by being dry as we did so.

and there were many, as you can sort of see in this picture of people lining the streets for the parade.



yeah, i just had my blueberry with me, so as you will be aware the pictures are not going to be all that great, sorry. for a better class of picture i may well one day buy either an update blueberry, or one of them Samsung Galaxians or a Pear iTwat. but probably not one of the last two, as they don't do buttons. do that Danish lot, Nooki or whatever, still do them phones with buttons?

moving on, and the people were gathered to watch the parade, as i mentioned before, if only in passing. we were eagerly awaiting the parade too, keen to watch and see.



we were quite fortunate to find this vantage point very much under-populated, in truth. the village was, as later pictures shall reveal, truly packed, so to find an empty bit of path, with a barrier no less, was a bonus. most happy day!

the parade itself was magnificent. bravo and a very well done to all of the people who put so much hard work and effort in. a particular well done to all the owners and users of the vintage vehicles, who have kept them all working in magnificent condition. a labour of love if there ever was one, i believe.



a parade, of course, is completed and indeed complemented by the presence of a big marching band. this we very much had on the go, but i do not have a picture for you. instead, i have a most spectacular video - with sound and that - for you to enjoy. 

enjoy, of course, so long as you are not on an iTwat or using Safari, for i believe those elements of the net of inter do not allow one to watch video. 



yes, that is an extra special amount of bass on the go there, is it not?

the boys loved the entire parade as it was, but if a highlight were to be selected, it would be the band. both were very impressed with the sound and just how loud it was.



i would say i suspect the match tonight will end in a draw, but i expected the match between that Spanish lot and that Dutch lot, the exact names of the countries involved escapes me, to be a draw. i will, then, rather suggest, that England might win, or Italy might. but it could also be a draw.

back, i am sure you want to go, to pictures of the parade. here you go. look at the fantastic work and effor that went into these floats.



brilliant work by all involved, well done. well, yeah - i mean, this is Yorkshire. we do not do anything less than what people from lesser areas that are not Yorkshire would be amazed at doing. to us it's all second nature, as it happens. or possibly first nature.

i believe these pictures are further giving a clue as to how many people came out and indeed about today to see all of this. lovely.




i have been thinking about my match prediction a bit more. where it could be an England win, an Italy win or a draw, it might also be that it gets abandoned for some reason. so there, that's my conclusive and direct prediction on the score for you. if i can stay awake, i will be watching it in the company of an absolutely enormous bag of M & Ms.

with the parade procession past, it was time to walk up towards the green. as you can see, the skies still tormented and teased us, with rain looking like a possible way forward at any moment.

here is a picture of the good people taking a walk towards the green, then.



to the left, if you are interested, in between those two buildings that you can see is the library, or if you like discovery centre, where i from time to time purchase books for reading on the bus. on a Saturday, of course, as i am unable to get there at the times on the other days that they are open.

anyway, as you can see, and as i may well have mentioned in passing, the place was a healthy level of heaving. nice to see, all and sundry having a splendid time.

as for the fair / fete side, well, it was all a lot of running around after the boys, going on various rides and stalls and that. which was kind of the downside to the day, really. they had great fun and that, but all the rides and games were either £2 or £2.50 each, which struck me and many others as being a little high. £2 for each child on one of them swing boats for 5 minutes was a particular lowlight.

i am a firm believer in everyone needs to make a living, right, but that costing was just ridiculous. it does not bode at all well for Stokesley Fair later in the year at all. i may have to sell a kidney or a lung or something for that one.

but hey, it was free to watch the people dance a traditional dance with swords.



onwards then to the formalities of any good village fete or fair, which would be awarding the best and the finest of those involved with the day. that was something that saw, rightly, everyone be awarded, rewarded and acknowledged for their efforts. it was a particular delight to see both schools involved be awarded too, for those kids and the teachers worked very hard on everything.



oh yes, up there on the stage, that is indeed our MP, the rather well known William Hague. he of the government of the day, and of some involvement in the policies and plans of that government that prevented us, most directly my (considerably) better half, from being here this time last year. alas no, i did not get the chance to meet and greet him and thank him for all those barriers he helped put in place.

to get back to the stalls, hopefully without too much more moaning and grouching about the costs, here is a selection of the things you could win for catching a duck. at £2.50 (R45.50) a go.



we have ended up with one of those dinosaurs and a car that is in a condition which suggests i have driven it. although, in fairness, it was a lot easier to put the wheels back on with the toy version.

anyhow, time for some coffee, and perhaps some experimental taster M & Ms, and wonder how on earth i shall stay up for this match to see if the result i predicted happens.

hope you've all had an excellent Saturday too!



be excellent to each other!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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