Well, I went to the Royal Adelaide Show on the weekend to see what I could see. So many people! Such weird food! So many rides! So much award winning fleece! I could only wish there was a way to buy one. But the show is not set up to facilitate this.
I discovered what happens when you approach a creature as curious as an alpaca quietly and rest your camera on the edge of the enclosure.
A very warm and gentle whuffling….
There were many glorious animals…
There was a big exhibit called “Women of Empire” with Australian women from World War one represented by a banner about their lives and a period costume. I was delighted to find Vida Goldstein (suffragist, pacifist, parliamentarian) represented.
Not only is she campaigning against war and conscription here–look at that lapel!
And her rather fine tie and button.
Far from being a pacifist, next I discovered a woman who wanted to be a soldier so badly that she impersonated one, more than once. Maud Butler. Here she is dressed as a boy.
And here is something like what she would have worn, including the women’s shoes that gave her away. She didn’t get her wish.
Somehow this made it all the more funny when five minutes later I was hailed by some firefighters who were selling one of those fundraising calendars with lots of partially clad men in it. ‘I know it wouldn’t be for you, sir…’!
My quilt was hanging among many extremely splendiferous examples of the art. Here is one of the major prize winners:
Just look at that stitching!
The cookery and craft sections were full of all kinds of outrageous… I always find the egg artistry section a thing of amazement. Here are the tea cosies! I had a lovely chat with an award winning knitter in the over 80 category who happened to be wandering about knitting a sock and admiring the view. One of my species, I thought. I showed her my sock too.
Of course, there were also a lot of examples of elegance. Here is one of the winning entries in the apiary categories:
I had a lot of trouble capturing decent images of anything indoors and behind glass, but I had a very fine time tracking down the entries of my friends and guildmates.
In the foreground, the glorious spinning perfection entry of one of my friends, and in the background, mine. And below, here’s the newspaper yarn, in the ‘best in show’ cabinet!
Local & Bespoke 