Striking while the Iron is Hot

At the "Bloom in the Park" show event today there were so many things to see that we were spoiled for choice. Quite apart from the competition gardens, which is what interested us most, we were also entertained by sellers of flowers and gardening equipment, manufacturers of mowers and strimmers, members of the craft council of Ireland, the National beekeepers Association and a host of other things far too numerous to mention. The entry fee of 20 Euro looked at face value to be a bit steep but as it turned out is was pretty good value. We got there at 10.30am and didn't leave until 6.30pm. A long and rewarding day.

One of the more interesting demonstrators was a blacksmith who made metal seem as soft and as pliable as putty as he very skillfully fashioned it into a variety of objects from fire irons to ladies jewellery.Here he demonstrates where the phrase "to strike while the iron is hot" came from.