Carnival Week

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Thursday 14^th June

A strangely familiar man pushes something through my letterbox.  Upon checking I find that it is the Old Basing Village Show schedule.  I usually buy my copy at the Carnival, but I know that you can also get them from Linden Market and other shops in the village.  At 50p, it seems good value for the amount of fun we shall surely have.  This year I have tried to get ahead of the game by planting some of the things that were in the programme last year, such as carrots, potatoes, asters, sunflowers, and marigolds.  Well somebody needs to challenge Geoff Owen!

No sign of fly on the carrots yet!	Potatoes looking healthy	and already the sunflower has reached the roof

Sunday 17^th June

Sit down with a cup of tea to peruse the show schedule and plan the classes that I can surely enter (and win).  Try to convince the rest of the family that they should enter.  Meet surprising resistance from Husband and elder son.  Am reminded of comments supposedly made last year along the lines of “I am not doing this ever again” and “remind me not to enter meringues next year”.  I don’t think that was what I actually said.

Make a mental note to check whether Delia has any ideas about meringues that crack.

Tuesday 19^th June

• 8.30am
  Daughter announces that she is bringing three girls home for tea, and has promised them that I will make a homemade cake.  This is a chance to practise my Victoria sandwich for the show.

• 1.30pm
  Dash home from work. Turn oven on. Find Mary Berry’s Ultimate cake book.  Search high and low for 7” sandwich tins.  Make a mental note to always keep the removable bottoms with the tins in future.  Measure ingredients really accurately. Funny - I was sure I had bought eggs last week.  Dash to Tesco and buy eggs.  Come home and make cake following Mary’s instructions to the letter.  Put margarine back in fridge and find last weeks eggs.  Put cake in oven and put timer on.  Make cup of tea and smugly put feet up and read the paper.

•  Later
  Wonder why buzzer has not gone off, and find that button on top of said buzzer had not been pressed.  Scrape top of cake and cover with thick layer of icing.  Resolve to remain in kitchen when baking cakes next time.