Sunday 15 June 2008

Fairly magik

Yesterday I went to the Town and Country Fair with my floaty neighbour.. The weather was chilly and sunny in equal bursts with occasional splodges of fat rain drops …there is nothing quite like the English summer. My eyes have been a bit difficult this last week so at first I was subdued and sullen wandering around between the organic jam stalls and the sheep shearing.

Things brightened up considerably after I bumped into the vintage cider stall however. A swift glug or three and it all became 'perfekedly charmin’. '

At the far end of the field were two Suffolk Punches. From a distance they just look like big horses but when you are close they tower above you, all massive and golden and sweet smelling, with hooves like buckets and liquid brown eyes and soft grey noses. There are only 420 in the whole world. Even the Giant Panda has better odds on extinction. There is something otherworldly and magical about them as if they are moving through a slightly different air to us..

As I stood slightly hypnotised by the creatures, several men strode past with falcons on their arms, two sheep dogs rounded up some Indian river ducks for a wildly applauding, enthusiastic crowd, a group of glassy eyed, mid-exam-up-the-yazoo students shared a Wild Boar burger with chips and a toddler in wellies was virtually smothered under the weight of the five-foot long stuffed tiger her Dad had just won at the fairground.
‘You can’t make this up’ I thought heading back towards the cider tent.
And I didn’t.

5 comments:

Louisa said...

sounds absolutely lovely. We used to have similar things in Folkestone....very nice and i miss such things here smack bang in the middle of London!
Glad you had a nice outing ...i on the other hand was working and being screamed at by passengers(mainly new yorkers) who were furious their flights had been cancelled but became subdued when they were told the reason for the cancellation was good old George W Bush landing at Heathrow and causing mayhem!!!

Suzie said...

Ye sounds like ye have had ost of fnu at ye old fair. Dang!
IM BACK!

family affairs said...

"floaty" neighbour? A ghost? On drugs or just wearing a very fashionable maxi dress? Sounds like an interesting event - think I might have found the cider tent too - thanks for your lovely message (about my ex being a shit) on my blog Lx

Janelle said...

ah tanvi darlin' -can't you post a pic of a suffolk punch?? never heard of them..sound LOVELY! as does the cider....XXXX janelle

tinku said...

I remember being at a concert in Finsbury Park being followed by a man who insisted we were both greyhounds in a former life, chasing each other around a field. I was unfortunately sober...