However I like to be a bit more hands on than watching from a window, so I was up at 6.00 Saturday morning, and marching across the grass, to watch the balloon launch. It was a beautiful morning and there is something rather special about watching huge inflated balloons, silently rising into the sky. Not always silent as there were intermittent blasts from their burners. A surprisingly large crowd had gathered to watch them go up. I saw at least twenty-five balloons launch. It was strange as sometimes you could see three all inflating until their seams became taute, and you thought they were the last ones, but as they rose up, three more were preparing behind them. Five was about the most that could inflate in the space at any one time, but the next ones were always ready to follow them. Here are a few of the many photos I took. I like the central one where the stripey balloon in the centre was lit up by the rising sun behind it.
Some were quite plain, others carried advertisements but some were more fun like the one winking at us, and the yellow one which surprised me because it was quite plain as I watched it getting ready, and then it turned in the air and had an alien face on the other side.
The park was well supplied with food and drink stalls, fairground rides and games, and pop-up shops selling novelties which kept the many families who visited, well occupied.
These two alpacas were a popular attraction and you could walk with them round the park.
We went back over there in the afternoon to meet our son and his family. Young Aisling kept us busy but fortunately she accepted the limit we placed on the number of treats she coul have. Of all the rides she was insistant that she wanted to go on the high swing roundabout, and flatly refused to let Daddy have the seat beside her. I thought it was too high for her as she is only five, but we needn't have worried. She loved every minute of it.
Having gone home to have our tea, we again ventured out at 9.00pm for the highlight of the day known as the Night Glow. For this around five balloons are inflated and every now and then one lights up as their burner blasts up to keep them stable. They are tethered so they can't take off. Meanwhile ten or twelve other burners are removed from their balloons and are set up around the arena, and their controllers sent up blasts of fire in time to loud music that has everyone singing and dancing. It is quite exciting and a great fun spectacular. Again I took too many photos to show them all here, but here are a small selection to give you some idea of what it was like.
It all happened again on Sunday except for the Night Glow which is only on Saturday. We didn't go over again but after dinner I did sit out by the front door with my sewing and watched the people having fun. Every now and then one tethered balloon would inflate in the arena. As it loomed above the trees you realised just how huge some of them are.
I spent Monday and Tuesday afternoons, shortening two pairs of trousers that have languished at the bottom of my closet for ages. I have a feeling we will be wanting trousers again soon. I am not a needle-woman by choice, but I am happy to have got this chore out of the way.
Yesterday was a bit grey and damp but my lovely grand/daughter Emma sent a message to say she wanted to show me something. So at ten o-clock she came round and picked me up and we drove to Gatacre Hill Fort, just on the edge of Oswestry. We parked in a layby and went through a gate, and there we saw this beautiful field.
Isn't that an amazing sight for a field in the midlands. We had to take a quick selfie with them behind us.
We chatted with a man who walks his dog round the perimeter every day, and he said the land-owner had recived a grant to plant the field with seeds for the birds and other wild-life. There was a lot of barley and maize as well as something gone to seed that google lens said was radish seeds. But of course it was the sunflowers we had come to see.
They were not as tall as cultivated sunflowers but I love the way they all turn their faces to the sun so they were all looking at us! I asked the man if we could pick a few and he said 'Oh yes. I have picked some but when I put them in water they die!' So Emma and I walked around and chose four heads each that still had compressed centres so should have some life left in them. So far so good.
Some were still in tight bud and it will be another few weeks before they are all set to seed but then the birds will have a field day. Already there were some smaller critters enjoying them.
I have always loved sunflowers but find them frustrating to grow as they almost always look over the fence away from the garden, so instead I bought this from a plant sale I went to at Easter. It is called Helianthus-Lemon Queen. It has taken so long to get to flower but does now have quite a few and there are loads of buds still to come. The flowers are smaller than I think they should be but this is its first year so we will see what next year brings.
I was happy to have another visitor this morning - Emma's brother Mikey popped in for a cup of tea and a catch up. We don't get to see him very often so it made a very happy morning. Now I am waiting to have a chat with my son Ben and then it will be tea-time and the end of another day.
Apologies for the length of this post. I just had a lot to write about this week.
