Rose Cottage Village Fair

Weeks ago, at the end of August when the sun shone and it was still warm we joined the residents of Rose Cottage for an afternoon of fun for their Summer fair.

For 5 years in a row, the same group of Sasha friends have pooled our dolls, accessories, props and ideas to come up with a story line we could do outdoors.  I didn't succeed in blogging about last year's picnic, though Lorraine did, our previous exploits have included Cowboys, country girls and Indians in 2014, Grand Summer Gymkhana gathering in 2015, Summer Music Festival in 2016 and A summer picnic in 2017.

Rose Cottage Village Fair and bunting

An excited gang of boys arrived at the fair with their skateboards

Laura was supervising the Ten Pin bowling, with eager toddlers Edmund and Louisa wanting to try the game

Melanie was in charge of Hook a Duck

Some girls just wanted to relax and chat in the shade

There was more chatting by the entrance

The ponies were waiting patiently for their first riders

Norma Jean and Betsy were deep in conversation on the grass

Stevie was supervising the toy stall which was being investigated by very keen toddler Bonnie while Henry looked after the Bric a Brac stall which Ollie was looking at with great interest.

Stevie asked which toy Bonnie wanted to buy

Bonnie couldn't decide - she wanted them all!

There was so much choice!

Emily was looking after the cake stall

Emily in red gingham

The candy floss looked inviting for anyone with a sweet tooth!

One of the top attractions at the Village Fair was the puppet show.

The next show would be at 2pm

An eager crowd was gathering to watch the puppet show

Peggy Sue drew back the curtain for the puppet show to begin

Once upon a time a frog was looking for the princess when he met a gingerbread man, who had not seen the princess so the frog went off to find her, leaving the gingerbread man behind

A mouse appeared instead!

The audience was spell bound by the story as Peggy Sue explained that the Gingerbread man hurried off because he was afraid of being eaten by the mouse.

The toddlers with their candy floss listened intently as the story unfolded

Peggy Sue was a bit surprised when a mermaid appeared on stage. The mouse realised that the mermaid wasn't afraid of him and went off to find the Gingerbread Man, because he was a hungry mouse.

The crowd gasped as a large octopus arrived beside the mermaid

What is an Octopus doing in the story?

Peggy Sue asked the children what they thought would happen next

The Octopus and Mermaid looked at each other

Even the Pony riding crew were watching and wondering what would happen next

Betsy was getting covered with Candy Floss in her excitement

The toddlers were bouncing up and down and waving their arms about because what was happening on stage was getting scary

The Octopus made a grab for the mermaid with his long tentacles

The Mermaid looked like she was going to be swallowed by the Octopus

"Watch out Mermaid!" shouted the watching crowd

The toddlers were getting very scared, was the Octopus attacking the mermaid or just giving her a hug?

Norma Jean was overwhelmed, while Stevie turned her head as she felt a tentacle touch her shoulder!

Stevie looked to see whether it really was an Octopus which had touched her shoulder

"Oh it is you Nicholas James, I thought it was the Octopus!" said Stevie

Meanwhile, the frog appeared on stage along with a frog princess. Rory, the frog lover, immediately stepped forward to get a better look.

"Oh no", said Trendon Elliott to Nicholas James, "I didn't know it was going to get all slushy!"

Froggie love, with Rory looking on as the puppet show ended.

The crowd clapped and cheered then dispersed back to the stalls.  But what is this? Two over excited toddlers were grappling on the grass.

Ollie and Edmund were disrupting the end of the puppet show, however Peggy Sue soon sorted them out!

Ollie went to speak to the girls relaxing in their deck chairs after being told off by Peggy Sue.

Betsy and Norma Jean chatted about the Puppet show as Betsy finished off her Candy Floss

It was Pony ride time now that the Puppet Show had finished.

Donny was having a ride on the brown pony and asking all about care of horses and ponies.

Donny really loved his pony ride and wanted to buy his pony.

"Anyone else for a Pony Ride?"

Edmund was very excited - he had long wanted to try pony riding (ever since the Gymkhana) and now he had his chance.

Edmund clung on tightly to the pony's mane, as he was very high up for a small boy

Edmund and Donny enjoyed their pony rides

The pony ride mascot was a glove puppet

On the other side of the Village Fair the boys were getting involved in a game of Ten Pin bowling

Laura explained how to play and they were soon taking it in turns to see how many skittles they could knock down

6 skittles down!

Melanie was glad to have some punters for Hook a Duck as she had some good prizes on offer

Melanie showed them how to hook a duck

Meanwhile the toddlers had gone back for more Candy Floss!

After their game of Ten Pin Bowling the boys went to get some cakes

And they were also very attracted to the Bric a Brac as there were some good toys on the stall

Bric a Brac - I think I know what the boys wanted to buy!

The toddler girls gravitated back to the soft toys, they were still having a hard time choosing what they wanted the most

So many cute and cuddly toys available, how can a toddler choose only one!

It wasn't as easy as it looked to Hook a Duck but he kept trying

Success! He hooked a duck.

With all the fun going on at the Village Fair, one person definitely only had one thing on his mind - his beloved frogs. At the end of the puppet show the two happy frogs had disappeared from the stage and Rory was really disappointed.

"Where did they go? Can't I hold them please?" begged Rory

"Sorry Rory, the show has finished now and they've gone for a swim" said Peggy Sue

Inside the Puppet booth, one very tired Lewis waited for Rory to go away so he could pack up all the puppets and have a drink, it was hard work being a puppeteer on a hot sunny afternoon.

"Go and get some cake and enjoy the rest of the fair, Rory" advised Peggy Sue

Many of the photos in this post were taken by the youngest of our group, so I could help Jocelyn and Lorraine with posing the dolls. I think she did pretty well (another doll photographer story teller in the making).