Brinklow Scarecrow Trail

Monday was a Bank Holiday here in England, we had no real plans as every day is a holiday now we are retired ... hee hee 

But we did decide to go out for a walk and as a local village had a Scarecrow Trail we thought we'd go and have a look, it's the first one aince 2019. 

Brinklow lies on the Fosse Way, a Roman Road, and also has a moat and bailey castle. Wewalked up to the castle but I decided not to climb to the top as it's very steep, more a worry of coming down than going up. It looks a small mound in my photo but look at the trees to get a perspective.

We also popped into the church, it's the only church I know that slopes upwards. 

We had a two mile walk around the village looking at everyone's scarecrows, such great ideas. It must take hours to construct them. 

My favourite was The Queen and Paddington. My other top ones were The Repair Shop and the Bowling. There were many more, we didn't manage to walk the lower part of the village so missed quote a few; these were my highlights.

Over the weekend the village had had events on including a vintage car show and a Lancaster fly past. 

It's held every two years so next time we might go on one of the activity days although it was nice to see the displays without crowds.

Ansley Flower Festival

Summer Bank Holiday is traditionally the Flower Festival at my family church. I have in the past taken part with a floral display but it isn't really something I'm very good at so I haven't recently. 

However this year I did take part. Every Christmas I take part in the church's tree Festival decorating my tree with cross stitch ornaments on various themes. My theme for 2020 was a Bouquet of Flowers, a choice I made in January before the world turned upside down. 

During the very worrying and difficult months of 2020 I stitched flowers for my tree ... and so did many of my friends from around the world. There was only a virtual festival in 2020 but the flowers were displayed at the 2021 Christmas Tree Festival. 

My December 2020 blog post is all about how the Bouquet came about with the link to the virtual festival, and my December 2021 blog post is all about the festival back in church.

What has Christmas to do with the Summer Flower Festival? 

Well this year the Bouquet of Flowers is on display as part of the church's beautiful flower display. The theme for the 58th Flower Festival is 'Journey' and the gorgeous collection of stitched flowers certainly tells of my journey through recent years.

So many people are involved in the Flower Festival. It isn't just about putting flowers in the church but involves cleaning, making structures, sourcing the flowers and display items, preparing and printing the booklet, being at church to greet visitors, making teas and coffees, and of course clearing everything away afterwards.  The beautiful displays this year are again a tribute to all those who work so hard at St Laurence's Church.

The remainder of my post is photos of the beautiful flowers, each display reflects a journey. They are all so poignant especially the two in the porch; the bicycle is on the left side leading you into church 'one more step'...

... footprints is on the right of the church as you leave showing God is always with us. 

I hope you have enjoyed seeing the beautiful displays, maybe you are near and can visit in person but if far away I hope they have given you a smile ... God bless. 

Birmingham and the Cricket

We were lucky to have tickets to the T20 Women's Final for the Commonwealth Games at Edgbaston Cricket Ground earlier this month. It was our first time at a cricket match, we were side on to the wicket so super to see the batting action.

It was Australia against India and not far from us was a large group supporting India. They waved huge flags and had a Bangla drummer beating a very catchy tune every time India caught an Australian batter out or later in the game, when India were at the crease, a six was scored. It made a super atmosphere with everyone dancing to the beat.

As it was the final our tickets also included the medal ceremony; Bronze for New Zealand, Silver for India and Gold for Australia. It was quite moving to see the yellow and green fireworks and stand for the flags being raised with the Australian anthem playing. 

It was a very hot day and we sat in direct sunlight. A cool beer, sun cream and sun hats were a must but it was a beautiful light as the sun set. We had a super time and all decided we'd go to watch cricket again. 

And so we did ....

Hubby and I managed to get tickets for The Hundred, again at Edgbaston for the Women's game Birmingham Phoenix against Trent Rockets. We decided to go on the train this time as it gave us the opportunity to go to Centenary Square in the City Centre and see the Brummie Bull that became the superstar of the Commonwealth Games Opening Ceremony. 

He's superb, such detail and intricacy in the design ... we loved his tail! 

There was still plenty of Commonwealth posters, banners and statues around the city. Next to the bull was a great display of all the Commonwealth flags made of metal like giant pin badges in fencing, a great way to learn which is which. It was lovely to find the four main United Kingdom countries, and the Isle of Man. 

It was a slightly cooler day and the forecast was for rain so we had our fingers crossed it would not postpone the match. Luckily it stayed dry and we even had some blue sky. Our seats this time were directly opposite where we had sat before so again we had a great view of the wicket but we were not in direct sun as later in the game it was quite strong. 

My biggest challenge was working out how to make the Birmingham Phoenix hat as it came as a flat piece of card ... I think I did ok but I wasn't called up for reserve hee hee. 

Orange fireworks this time as Birmingham Phoenix Women came onto the pitch. It was a very exciting game, plenty of boundaries from both teams and some super catches. Phoenix won which pleased the home crowd, and the Phoenix Men won their match later in the day too.

We have thoroughly enjoyed both the T20 and The Hundred cricket, we quite like the fact that the match is won on the day unlike the test matches that take a few days. We're hoping next year to visit a couple of other cricket grounds especially The Oval but for now a huge thank to Egbaston for two superb days out 🏏