Sunday, December 03, 2006

When the Wind Blows

All was in order. The marquees were up, the stalls set out, and the tables clearly labelled. Everything was ready. I could go to bed and rest easy. All right, it was a bit on the windy side, but nothing to lose sleep over. I can rely on the wardens to firmly tether everything in a safe and secure manner.

I was, therefore, a little perplexed to find our foliage stand had vanished overnight. The table was still there, but the gazebo had vanished. It was most definitely not in the courtyard. At last I found it, over by the barns, a goodly distance away and the other side of a seven foot high wall. It may never be the same again.



On the positive side, at least it wasn’t in the moat. When we held our World War II event in 2004 we had a small marquee in the orchard, with a few tables and chairs inside, so the public could sit and enjoy their refreshments while the local band played various hits from the 40s. It was, like today, a bit on the blustery side, and I vividly recall standing on the front doorstep of the house, seeing the marquee lift in the wind and then just flipping over. As it rolled toward the moat I was amazed and amused to note that the former occupants of the tea tent were still seated at their tables, drinking their tea and eating their cake, with only the turning of their heads and the occasional “ooh” to indicate anything out of the ordinary had occurred. That is true blitz spirit.

In the meantime all the staff on site were chasing after the errant marquee, trying to grab it before it hit the water. Luckily we did bring it down, like the mighty hunters we still are at heart. It, like today’s foliage gazebo, was never the same again.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Ah yes - quite takes me back to the times when gazebos roamed the earth ...

Anonymous said...

Actually, Anon, if you are of that sort of persuasion that lkes LARPing, come to the Gathering some fine August and watch many swearing stallholders chase gazebos into the lake...
Yours, still with tentpeg and clamp in more than one orifice...

Anonymous said...

I loved the wild weather. I woke in the dark with waves of rain lashing the window as if we were sailing through a storm at sea. Went to sleep again warm and content.
Not till the morning that he mentioned the baby's buggy left outside...

Doris said...

What is the gazebo's natural predator then, Anonymous?

Zak - I can no longer sit comfortably with that image in mind!

Monica - I know what you mean. There is something so comforting about being indoors on a wild and stormy night. Where did you find the buggy in the morning?

Anonymous said...

Doris

amazingly enough, the brakes had held... i thought i might find buggy in next door's hedge or worse, wrapped around their car, but it just sat there in the front garden, very very soggy - a little like the sheep in the field.