Here we are, the week after the Shows and the weather already thinks it is winter. Our feelings could perhaps be summed up by this Giddy Limit strip by Alex Leonard.
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| No.207. The Orcadian 13th August 2009 http://www.giddy-limit.com/Year4Archive/no.207.html
But with a week to go before the schools go back we are determined to squeeze ever last drop of fun out of the summer, so even if the weather is less than sunny you'll still get a warm welcome at the library.
There is still time to complete the Mythical Maze Summer Reading Challenge, so get reading and come along to the library to exchange your returned books for stickers, a bookmark, wristband and fortune teller. All those who complete the challenge will also get an invite to our award event, which will take place in Kirkwall library on Saturday 23rd August with special guest, local writer and storyteller Fran Flett Hollinrake, and a presentation of certificates and medals.
We also still have our holiday reading display up, with books to keep you and your little ones entertained, whatever the weather.
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Showing posts with label Dounby Show. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Dounby Show. Show all posts
Tuesday, 12 August 2014
Shows Over
Tuesday, 5 August 2014
Show Season
Here we are in August already, and in the words of George Mackay Brown*, 'The "Show Season" is on us once more. How quickly the cycle of the year turns!'.
Stromness Library will be closed on Thursday 7th August for the annual public holiday for the Dounby Show. As ever the hope is that the weather will be kind.
Writing forty years ago, in The Orcadian , George Mackay Brown was both looking forward to the delights of 'The Show Season' and reflecting on memories of Dounby Shows past:
Whatever the weather may bring on Thursday we hope your day out at the Dounby Show is full of happy memories.
* quotes from George Mackay Brown, 'The Show Season, 8.8.1974' in Letters from Hamnavoe, 2002,Steve Savage Publishers Ltd, p.166.
Stromness Library will be closed on Thursday 7th August for the annual public holiday for the Dounby Show. As ever the hope is that the weather will be kind.
Writing forty years ago, in The Orcadian , George Mackay Brown was both looking forward to the delights of 'The Show Season' and reflecting on memories of Dounby Shows past:
...may the Dounby Show be blessed this year with sunshine and tumultuous crowds. Here, if anywhere, it is possible to see, gathered into one small field, a swatch of the typical Orkney - laird, merchant, farmer, seaman, countrywoman, student, bairn...
If I try to think of any one happy Dounby Show out of the past, it is almost impossible, for all those August days unfold like a single fan covered with gay patterns. Even when the gate is finally closed in the show park, and the patient beasts are loaded for home, the day keeps an afterglow.
Whatever the weather may bring on Thursday we hope your day out at the Dounby Show is full of happy memories.
* quotes from George Mackay Brown, 'The Show Season, 8.8.1974' in Letters from Hamnavoe, 2002,Steve Savage Publishers Ltd, p.166.
Saturday, 3 August 2013
It's Show Time!
With Orkney's agricultural show season under way our thoughts turn to next Thursday's Dounby Show.
While those entering livestock are busy washing, grooming, and going through their paces in preparation for the big day, there is still time to prepare your entries for the 115th West Mainland Flower, Produce & Industrial Show.
Pick up a schedule from one of the West Mainland country shops and you will find eight sections with classes for everything from pot plants to photographs -including a junior section for children, divided into four age groups.
The schedule includes recipes for the items in the baking and confectionery classes - or you can use your own tried and tested ones. For those seeking last minute inspiration or tips then we have lots of baking and craft books in the library which could help you create the winning entry. We suspect that the knitting section may well feature work from some of our Yap and Yarn group.
The competition is open to all who permanently reside in the West Mainland, and exhibits can be entered at The Dounby Centre between 10am and 12.30pm on Wednesday 7th August or between 8pm-9pm on Tuesday 6th. Membership tickets, which include the entry fee and admission, cost £2 for adults and 50p for juniors.
The exhibits can be viewed by the public between 7pm -9pm on Wednesday 7th, and from 10am -5pm on Thursday 8th August. So if you're at the Dounby Show don't forget to take a trip along the road to The Dounby Centre as well. If you can't make it to Dounby you can get a taste of the even from the show's facebook page.
Good luck to all competitors next Thursday, and remember both Kirkwall and Stromness libraries will be closed that day so the staff can enjoy the show too. We're already looking forward to catching up with friends and enjoying our usual show-day treats of lunch in the pavilion and a 99 ice cream :-)
While those entering livestock are busy washing, grooming, and going through their paces in preparation for the big day, there is still time to prepare your entries for the 115th West Mainland Flower, Produce & Industrial Show.
Pick up a schedule from one of the West Mainland country shops and you will find eight sections with classes for everything from pot plants to photographs -including a junior section for children, divided into four age groups.
The schedule includes recipes for the items in the baking and confectionery classes - or you can use your own tried and tested ones. For those seeking last minute inspiration or tips then we have lots of baking and craft books in the library which could help you create the winning entry. We suspect that the knitting section may well feature work from some of our Yap and Yarn group.
The competition is open to all who permanently reside in the West Mainland, and exhibits can be entered at The Dounby Centre between 10am and 12.30pm on Wednesday 7th August or between 8pm-9pm on Tuesday 6th. Membership tickets, which include the entry fee and admission, cost £2 for adults and 50p for juniors.
The exhibits can be viewed by the public between 7pm -9pm on Wednesday 7th, and from 10am -5pm on Thursday 8th August. So if you're at the Dounby Show don't forget to take a trip along the road to The Dounby Centre as well. If you can't make it to Dounby you can get a taste of the even from the show's facebook page.
Good luck to all competitors next Thursday, and remember both Kirkwall and Stromness libraries will be closed that day so the staff can enjoy the show too. We're already looking forward to catching up with friends and enjoying our usual show-day treats of lunch in the pavilion and a 99 ice cream :-)
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| Photo of vegetable section from the Show's Facebook page at: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=242677019092453&set=pb.242518355774986.-2207520000.1375528606.&type=3&theater |
Wednesday, 8 August 2012
It's Showtime!
Well it's that time of the year again folks when we close up the library for the day, and join the throng heading for Dounby and the delights of the Dounby Show!
Tomorrow, Thursday 9th August sees the West Mainland Agricultural Society's annual agricultural show, an event which was first held in 1891, with the usual mix of livestock, agricultural exhibits and attractions to look forward to.
If you would like to learn more about the history of the Dounby Show you can borrow our copy of Showyard on the Heather by George T. Wylie which, in the words of Bill Hewison ,who wrote the book's foreword, is:
For those of you less interested in livestock and more interested in what happens to wool once it has been removed from the sheep, then there is also the 114th West Mainland Flower, Produce and Industrial Show. With classes for everything, from pot plants to clootie dumplings and a Juvenile Section which includes edible necklaces and decorated buns, the standard will be high and the competition fierce! The show, which is being held in the Dounby Centre, opens this evening from 7pm -9pm and tomorrow from 10am -5pm.
So enjoy the shows - we'll be open again on Friday 10th August as normal and will try to put up some photos, so that those of you who don't make it to Dounby tomorrow don't feel too left out.
Tomorrow, Thursday 9th August sees the West Mainland Agricultural Society's annual agricultural show, an event which was first held in 1891, with the usual mix of livestock, agricultural exhibits and attractions to look forward to.
If you would like to learn more about the history of the Dounby Show you can borrow our copy of Showyard on the Heather by George T. Wylie which, in the words of Bill Hewison ,who wrote the book's foreword, is:
...more than just a history of the Dounby Show - it's the story of Orkney farming over the last hundred years and in particular of the West Mainland folk themselves and how they band together in good neighbourliness to get things done.However you'll have to contain your enthusiasm and wait until Friday to borrow the book, as tomorrow you'll be disappointed to find the library closed while we partake of all the delights the Dounby show has to offer.
For those of you less interested in livestock and more interested in what happens to wool once it has been removed from the sheep, then there is also the 114th West Mainland Flower, Produce and Industrial Show. With classes for everything, from pot plants to clootie dumplings and a Juvenile Section which includes edible necklaces and decorated buns, the standard will be high and the competition fierce! The show, which is being held in the Dounby Centre, opens this evening from 7pm -9pm and tomorrow from 10am -5pm.
So enjoy the shows - we'll be open again on Friday 10th August as normal and will try to put up some photos, so that those of you who don't make it to Dounby tomorrow don't feel too left out.
Friday, 12 August 2011
On with the Shows
Well the sun shone for the Dounby Show and we hope all of you who went along had a great day among the animals and amusements. We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and came home tired but happy, full of homebakes and ice cream and a few pounds poorer after all those prize draw tickets (all for good causes) and shots on the bottle stall - we were lucky for once and won a half bottle of gin (so that's the library Christmas doo sorted out then!).
Back to work today of course, and although the County Show takes place on Saturday we will be open as usual. If you have had your fix of all things agriculatural and decide a quiet afternoon in with a good book is in order then pop along and see us, we'll be glad of the company.
It's often said that the County Show marks the end of the summer and the next thing we can look forward to is winter and Christmas - though with the weather we've had so far this 'summer' will we actually notice the difference?! Anyway, as well as the obligatory reminder that the "nights are fairly drawing in " we also want to point out that the school summer holidays are not quite over yet and there is still time for our young readers to complete their Circus Stars reading challenge. So visit the library, get reading and those final sets of stickers can be yours - as well as the chance for all who complete the challenge to take part in a Treasure Hunt at the Kirkwall Library on Saturday 27th August and collect their Circus Stars award.
Back to work today of course, and although the County Show takes place on Saturday we will be open as usual. If you have had your fix of all things agriculatural and decide a quiet afternoon in with a good book is in order then pop along and see us, we'll be glad of the company.
It's often said that the County Show marks the end of the summer and the next thing we can look forward to is winter and Christmas - though with the weather we've had so far this 'summer' will we actually notice the difference?! Anyway, as well as the obligatory reminder that the "nights are fairly drawing in " we also want to point out that the school summer holidays are not quite over yet and there is still time for our young readers to complete their Circus Stars reading challenge. So visit the library, get reading and those final sets of stickers can be yours - as well as the chance for all who complete the challenge to take part in a Treasure Hunt at the Kirkwall Library on Saturday 27th August and collect their Circus Stars award.
Saturday, 6 August 2011
Dounby Show
It's show season again and we are crossing our fingers that the sun will shine and the rain stay away all week. Thursday 11th August is the Dounby Show which is celebrated by a local public holiday, so both the Stromness Library and Orkney Library and Archive in Kirkwall will be closed for the day.
Instead of stamping books we'll be donning our sunhats and enjoying a day out among the livestock and stalls. This year, in addition to the usual delights of the Sheep Sheering Competition, the Highland Dancing Demonstration and of course the refreshments in the Pavilion, we are promised the Scottish Terrier Racing Team, a Quad Bike Agility Challenge and Award-Winning Chainsaw Creations!
If you would like to find out more about the history of the show, and the Orkney West Mainland Agricultural Society which runs it, then you may like to come and have a look at our copy of Showyard on the Heather by George T. Wylie. which tells of the show's development from the first "Show of Stock to be held at Dounby on Thursday 9th July 1891" to the Centenary celebrations of 1991.
We hope you enjoy your day out at the show, just remember to pace yourself though, otherwise you could find all the excitement gets too much for you!
Instead of stamping books we'll be donning our sunhats and enjoying a day out among the livestock and stalls. This year, in addition to the usual delights of the Sheep Sheering Competition, the Highland Dancing Demonstration and of course the refreshments in the Pavilion, we are promised the Scottish Terrier Racing Team, a Quad Bike Agility Challenge and Award-Winning Chainsaw Creations!
If you would like to find out more about the history of the show, and the Orkney West Mainland Agricultural Society which runs it, then you may like to come and have a look at our copy of Showyard on the Heather by George T. Wylie. which tells of the show's development from the first "Show of Stock to be held at Dounby on Thursday 9th July 1891" to the Centenary celebrations of 1991.
We hope you enjoy your day out at the show, just remember to pace yourself though, otherwise you could find all the excitement gets too much for you!
Saturday, 30 July 2011
Orkney feasts
With memories of the Tall Ships and Shopping Week slowly fading and more than a week before the Dounby Show there is time to catch our breath and consider the other pleasures of summer.
The weather may be somewhat temperamental but even if barbecues end up indoors, and picnics involve woolly hats and waterproofs, this is the time to enjoy Orkney produce at its best. Whether you need inspiration, are looking for new ways to cook old favourites, or are in search of the definitive recipe for bere bannocks or clootie dumpling then our selection of Orkney cook books is bound to have what you're looking for.
In our quest to promote the importance of public libraries we are not above bribing you with food - we have been known to tempt unsuspecting passers-by into the library on the promise of a certain staff member's famous meringues!
We would love to hear your favorite recipes using local produce - we might even have a shot at making them and share the results with you if they are suitably mouthwatering.
The weather may be somewhat temperamental but even if barbecues end up indoors, and picnics involve woolly hats and waterproofs, this is the time to enjoy Orkney produce at its best. Whether you need inspiration, are looking for new ways to cook old favourites, or are in search of the definitive recipe for bere bannocks or clootie dumpling then our selection of Orkney cook books is bound to have what you're looking for.
In our quest to promote the importance of public libraries we are not above bribing you with food - we have been known to tempt unsuspecting passers-by into the library on the promise of a certain staff member's famous meringues!
We would love to hear your favorite recipes using local produce - we might even have a shot at making them and share the results with you if they are suitably mouthwatering.
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