The School Fete

Never let it be said I don’t get right into the thick of things because faced with an afternoon in this little country town I saw no better way of blending in than to attend the local school fete (2-7pm, sausage sizzle, wine tasting and fancy goods auction).

We parked outside on the main road and for a moment I hesitated because all I could hear were the strains of Tammy Wynette coming across the public address system, but I’d promised Ella some face painting so I decided I’d brave it because afterall, it wasn’t like I was going to bump into anyone I knew.

The fete turned out to be a hit with Ella, though there was a brief moment of tension by the cake stall when I decided I really ought to go home with the last remaining plate of lamingtons because a woman in a nylon housecoat had the same idea and beat me to them by literally inches. I was a bit put out, as you can imagine, though quickly came to my senses and realised life’s too short for lamington-rage and anyway, if that’s what three days in a country-town has reduced me to, it’s time I went back to the city.

So Ella got her face done and won two jars of goodies on the fishing stall and I got a cup of Toby’s Estate coffee (the stuff they serve at Toby’s shop in Sydney, though the poor woman at the school fete didn’t have a clue what I was saying when I ordered a skinny decaff flat white because she replied “sorry, it’s just ordinary black coffee”).

Just a pity Darren missed out on all the fun (he’ll be gutted, I know). There were plenty of kids dressed as superheroes today and if he’d asked me nicely, I’d have got his face done up like Batman as well.