Festival Friday

A very pleasant day taking in the sights and sounds.
I went to see Daniel Crayshaw's (sp?) exhibition in Marina's upper room. Last year he did paintings of snowy hillsides that made you feel cold just to look at them; this year he's moved into a more urban environment, and there are more vehicles in the paintings. One of them was the bus in Alaska where a young man died of starvation. Still monochrome, though.
On a more cheerful note - or maybe not, considering that the subject of the competition is 'Lost' - I picked up an entry form for the short story competition from the Festival site. It's being run by the Hay & District Community Support office; the closing date is 31st July, and the website is www.hayshortstory.com There were 400 entries last year, and the winner read their story out at the Hay Winter Festival.
The Festival site was full of bustle and sunbathing people. The Guardian have a yurt this year (last year it was a double decker bus, I think - there was certainly a double decker bus there, sinking slowly in the mud). I loved the life size bronze pig - with the label round his ear saying 'Please don't touch, I'm sold' - which was a great pity, because it was the sort of sculpture you just wanted to throw your arms around and hug!
There were people knitting a blanket at the Keep & Share stall - and they have a website at www.keepandshare.co.uk They're based in Lugwardine, in Herefordshire.
Wiggly Wigglers had three hens in their wildlife garden - Oberon, Hermia and Peaseblossom.
Later I left Islay sunning herself at the front of the house while Pam next door sold the contents of her wardrobe to passers by. David Jardine was speaking on Myth and Magic at the Globe, and reading from his book Visions of the Cailleach. I was impressed. He'd done a huge amount of research and was obviously enthusiastic about it.
The day finished off nicely for me in Marina's garden, sipping sparkling white wine under an ancient rose bush that will be a mass of pink blossoms in a few weeks time. It's an old variety called Isfahan, apparently, and it's also highly scented.
They are intending to burn the wicker man - not in situ, and not for a few weeks, but I think it will be a fun party.