Out here in darkest Gloucestershire we are rather partial to a street party. All the market towns and most of the villages of the Forest of Dean have some kind of carnival/festival/celebration during the year. Just up the road in Brockworth there's
Cheese Rolling at Cooper's Hill - a manic event that involves hundreds of
idiots people tumbling down a VERY steep hill after an 8lb wheel of Double Gloucester cheese (if you've never seen the
carnage spectacle for yourself take a look
here )
In Newent we have the rather more sedate
Onion Fayre - a festival of food and drink with some good music and funfair frolics thrown in for good measure. We opened the second branch of BikerDean in Newent on Onion Fayre day two years ago so the day holds a particular kind of excitement for us. It may not be the best day for taking money off people but, with approx 15,000 visitors walking past the door it IS a good day for reaching potential new customers and making new contacts.
The shop was busy with browsers most of the day...
...and the Little Man's training in customer service continues ;-)
But all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy so me and the Little Man went of for a wander around town.
There was plenty to entertain, both traditional...
And the not so traditional...
There were a lot of fair ground rides and the Little Man is getting bigger and no longer satisfied with a quick go on a merry-go-round. Oh no! He spotted a huge inflatable slide that he simply had to have a go on. I tried to steer him to the slightly less daunting bouncy play castle with smaller slidey bit (yes, that IS the technical term) but he was having none of it so - as there were no height or age restrictions - I agreed to let him have a go...
OMG he looks so small up there...and yes it really was as high as it looks, but judging by the look of pure joy on his face he loved it!!
Keeping with the high up theme the next ride he insisted on trying was the Ferris Wheel.
Having never been on a big wheel I was quite excited to have a go too and as the OH 'doesn't do heights' I knew this was one experience he wouldn't mind missing out on!
The view was pretty good up there too! There's another shot of the street from the very top
here.
The Little Man took it all n his stride, although he did go a bit quiet when the car we were in rocked at the top of the wheel in the wind while we waited for the passengers to get on down below...
But Onion Fayre is mostly about food!
And Onions. Obviously.
We had a lovely day, Little Man made some new friends and the rain even managed to hold off until the end of the day. Even then it left us with something to smile about!
Now then, anybody got a good onion soup recipe?
I have a 'thing' about hands. When my OH first came into the bookshop where I worked to place an advert in the local rag all I could do was stare at his hands - big, slightly dirty - he worked in his dad's motorbike shop - and I was smitten (his just over 6ft stature and long blond surfer dude hair may have had a little bit to do with it too . . .) My collegue noticed straight away (not that I was flustered or anything), a friend passed on my phone number and the rest, as they say, is history.
