Dancing to disaster

Went to a Midsummer Fete this afternoon, held on the lawn of a beautiful Avington House. Saw friends, basked in sunshine, had fun. The afternoon was so ridiculously English it was, as my daughter said, like a parody of itself.

The honours were done by Robert Hardy. There was a dog show, a fleet of old bicycles with their owners in 19th century costume, a mini Olympics for the kids, a bouncy castle, a Fete Queen and a 4-village tug-of-war, which is where I found these splendid chaps: Avington v Martyr Worthy and Itchen Abbas v Easton + a final which I didn't stay to watch, being in need of tea and lemon drizzle cake.

These guys are the Itchen Abbas team. You can tell they're just about to fall apart. And because they're not all facing the same way, to me they look more like they're dancing in a ring with their colour co-ordinated onlookers than heaving on a rope.

I've enjoyed my weekend - hope you have too..