Eating, shopping and visiting are all great aspects of a Wool Show, but the public was growing animated over the events yet to come. Things like the animal competition, bran tub, and door-prize drawing promised a fun afternoon for participants and onlookers alike. Brighton and I closed up the Wool Shop about a half hour before the animal competition began. (I needed a little time to get Berengaria and Albie ready to show.) The crowd was already collecting around the barn, and lots of behind-the-scenes work was going on while the crowd got seated. Brandon was busy filling the Bran Tub, and Eliot just had to try it out to make sure it was "well stocked with prizes".
To keep things hopping while the competitors lined up, Audie and Eliot grabbed their guitar and banjo, mounted the stage, and jammed for a while. Harold took advantage of the opportunity to make sure that the loudspeaker was working. (He makes a great emcee and really enjoys that microphone.)
Meanwhile, as the music calmed the crowds, Harold readied himself for the big moment. I mean, it isn't every day that you get to judge a sheep competition. And Eloy had promised to enter his alpaca, promising a bit of variety.
Harold's been studying his Fleece and Fiber Sourcebook for weeks, just to make sure that he knows all of the points a judge needs to know. Armed with his reference book ("just in case"), he donned his official "Judge" ribbon, took a deep breath and readied himself to meet the contestants.
Harold's been studying his Fleece and Fiber Sourcebook for weeks, just to make sure that he knows all of the points a judge needs to know. Armed with his reference book ("just in case"), he donned his official "Judge" ribbon, took a deep breath and readied himself to meet the contestants.
Thunderous applause greeted Harold as he walked out to the waiting crowd, all eyes turned in his direction.
A hush fell. The crowd was quiet in anticipation. Harold was quiet from shock.
These weren't all sheep (with one alpaca)! There was a a a a chicken . . . and a cat . . . and a rabbit . . . and a buffalo . . . and a . . . what is that thing? A rainbow ostrich? What is that? What happened to our WOOL show?!
It was too much for Harold. He threw his hands up in the air and retreated to a quiet corner to collect himself. This left the contestants standing in place (we were a little confused) and the crowd in silence.
It was too much for Harold. He threw his hands up in the air and retreated to a quiet corner to collect himself. This left the contestants standing in place (we were a little confused) and the crowd in silence.
I had a feeling that Harold might need a little help, so I left Berengaria and Albie with Eliot and went to find our judge. I found him all right. I found him frantically turning pages in his Sourcebook, trying to read up on buffalos, cats and bunny rabbits.
"Don't worry, Harold," I said. "You'll be fine. Just judge them like you would the other animals."
"But what's that big bird? I've never seen anything like that before, and it's NOT in my book!"
I had never seen Harold like this before. Time for some quick thinking. I dashed into the shop and grabbed my laptop. Click . . . click . . . google . . . google . . . yes! It's a "Kevin" . . . a member of the snipe family. Very rare.
"But what's that big bird? I've never seen anything like that before, and it's NOT in my book!"
I had never seen Harold like this before. Time for some quick thinking. I dashed into the shop and grabbed my laptop. Click . . . click . . . google . . . google . . . yes! It's a "Kevin" . . . a member of the snipe family. Very rare.
The color had come back into Harold's face, so I rushed back to take my place in line, while Brandon got a cold lemonade to sooth our judge's frazzled nerves.
Before long, Harold reappeared with a calm look on his face, ready to begin judging. You could feel the excitement in the air as he called the first contestant. I think everyone was holding their breath. Or were they trying to figure out who was competing against that big bird?
Eloy stepped forward with Fluffer, his pure white Alpaca and a truly gorgeous example of his breed. Fluffer did a beautiful job of obeying commands and looking his best, and his fibre is certainly top-notch quality. Harold was impressed. The crowd oohed and aahed.
Next came Eliot and Sheepie. This was a hard entry for Harold to judge, since he and Eliot are such good chums and he knows how partial Harold is to Sheepie. But Harold is a great judge, able to set aside his feelings and do everything very impartially and professionally. Sheepie was very well behaved, overcoming her usual playfulness in time to follow commands and stand perfectly still. Harold was impressed. The crowd oohed and aahed.
Contestant Number Three was . . . me! Berengaria was entered in the sheep category, and Albie was entered in the lamb category, so I actually had two cuties to show. An animal is judged on his behaviour in these competitions, and I'm afraid that Albie got a very large "F"! As soon as Eliot and Sheepie were returning to the line, Albie had to rush off to nuzzle Harold in the knee. An "A" for cuteness might be his, but I think I'd better sign Albie up for that obedience class sooner than later. Harold endured, and the crowd oohed and aahed.
Berengaria, on the other hand, behaved wonderfully! She looked perfect -- and she didn't even seem to mind everyone staring at her the whole time. Harold was impressed. The crowd oohed and aahed.
The next contestant is well known to everyone on the Island and was greeted with some excited cheers -- Nanea's chicken, Flossie! No one can deny the quality of Flossie's clean, sleek feathers -- or how wonderfully she obeys Nanea's commands. (Nanea wants you to know that she was nervous and had butterflies in her stomach.) Have you ever seen a leash-trained chicken who wears skirts? Harold was impressed. The crowd oohed and aahed.
As Flossie waddled her way back into line, Eydie's Steviekins came running forward to lean on Harold's leg and purr. I'm certainly glad that I wasn't the judge, because that would have been too hard to resist!
House cats have never been exactly "trainable", so you have to cut a little slack in the obedience category. All in all, Steviekins did very well -- being the amazing kitty that he is. Harold was impressed. The crowd oohed and aahed.
The next contestant was . . . um . . . let's let the pictures say a thousand words. It was Sun-Ho with his Kevin, a member of the giant snipe family. This is a very rare and endangered animal, which explains why no one had ever seen one before. The only way to describe Kevin's sleek feathers is "bright". She makes some rather odd noises, too, but they're difficult to describe. Let's just say that she squawks more loudly than Flossie and hisses better than Steviekins. Don't know if she sings. She sure is big. Flossie seems unimpressed, but Harold was impressed. The crowd oohed and aahed.
Up next was Jill (Islandshire's local detective, locally known as "Gillian, P.I.") with her partner in mystery, Nick the Rabbit (named for that most famous of thin detectives, Nick Charles). No behavioural issues to be found here, because Nick is amazingly trained. He did sniff around Harold for a long time, but Jill just thought he was just searching for a clue. Harold was impressed. The crowd oohed and aahed.
The last contestant was Audie's buffalo, Murphy. The ground shook under our feet as he lumbered forward. The crowd gasped, but Harold wasn't nervous at all. In fact, he had so much fun that he even borrowed Audie's Western saddle to judge Murphy's saddle training. The ride was surprisingly smooth, and Harold was still all in one piece when he got back to the ground. Murphy just snorted and pawed at the dirt, oblivious to the stares and gasps. Harold was impressed. The crowd oohed and aahed.
Now that all of the animals had been shown, it was time for the moment that the crowd (and all of the contestants) had been waiting for -- the moment when Harold awarded the ribbons! Everyone lined up in an orderly fashion (even Kevin stood still), and you could have heard a pin drop.
Well . . . that's it for today. Had you fooled, didn't I? You thought you were going to learn who Harold awarded the ribbons to, didn't you? The results will be announced tomorrow, but that's only because the judging isn't finished yet. For that, we need your help! There's a beautiful People's Choice ribbon that will be awarded to one of the contestants and their owner. Please vote for your choice by leaving a comment on this post (voting will also take place in polls on three doll forums), and the winner will be announced tomorrow. See you then!