Broome Park Farm, Farmhouse Bed & Breakfast Accommodation Cleobury Mortimer, Shropshire

Yesterday we had our last Dance Out of the summer at The Plough, Wistanstow, home to Woods Brewery. Fortunately the weather stayed dry and the Landlord was an appreciative host - thanks for the free drinks! Practice nights (much needed by me!) will resume on the 7th September - just in time for the 2nd Annual Severn Valley Railway Tour. This is just an excuse for us to travel on the railway and dance at loads of places along the way! Great fun!

Yesterday we spent the day at the Royal Welsh Show at Builth Wells. Having visited the Royal a few years ago the Royal Welsh is infinitely better. There is definitely something for everyone. One of our favourite sections is the Forestry Area and it was wonderful to see heavy horses at work - the affinity between horse and human was amazing.

Another favourite is the Food Hall with lots of free samples to taste and quite a few purchases made- toffee waffles and toffee vodka amongst the favourites! We also watched the shear off between Wales and New Zealand (I have no idea how the scoring works!) and fortunately Wales won - much to the delight of the crowd. Despite the rain we had a great day and can’t wait to go back again next year.

We have a new member of the family - Geoffrey the Giraffe (made by Richard). Geoffrey took first prize at the 4th Annual Neen Savage Scarecrow Convention, beating a very impressive Tony the Tiger and assortment of other creatures, loosely interpreting the theme of ‘Carnival of the Animals’.

A major logistical operation was needed to transport Geoff (using tractor and transport box) as he is over 10 feet tall and he is currently awaiting collection from the village hall. I am not sure if he is returning to the end of the drive or to the vegetable garden to fulfill his role as a scarecrow!

This weekend the judging of Cleobury in Bloom took place. Members of the Chamber of Trade are automatically entered and amazingly we won the non licensed business category! Presentations were made on Sunday evening and I was strongly encouraged to attend! This was rather tricky as we were off to Ludlow for the Festival Finale so Flo (chair of the Horticultural Society) agreed to present my award first - an enormous shield and a certificate which I shall proudly display in the entrance hall.