"Self-sufficiency does not mean 'going back' to the acceptance of a lower standard of living. On the contrary, it is the striving for a higher standard of living, for food that is organically grown and good, for the good life in pleasant surroundings... and for the satisfaction that comes from doing difficult and intricate jobs well and successfully." John Seymour ~ Self Sufficiency 2003

Saturday 9 August 2014

Veggie fun

John, of Going Gently, lives in a small village called Trelawnyd in Wales.  He is very involved in the village life and knows most of what has happened, is happening and will be happening there in the future.  He also supplies eggs to most of the villagers it seems.  The village is going to be having their anuual flower show soon, and in honour of that, he decided to host a competition too, but it wouldn't entail flowers, rather fruit and veg - novelty fruit and veg. He generously opened up the competition to anyone, anywhere, and, will be printing all the photo's he posts in order to give them a chance to be entered into, and judged, at the flower Show.  Phew!  How many ink cartridges is he going to go through...?

Anyway, to brighten up a dreary winter's day last weekend I couldn't resist the chance of having a bit of fun.  Of course, as always, I got carried away, and this is what I came up with...

Sweetie Potato
- I loved the sweet potato root ends which made

perfect tufts of hair on his balding dome
(sweet potato body, chilli ear, piquantè pepper
mouth and granadilla seed compound eyes)


Bertie Butternut
- gives the term couch potato
a whole new meaning

(butternut body, fennel hair.
granadilla eyes, carrot arms,
chilli nose, piquantè pepper
mouth and braided onion legs)

Initially, I couldn't decide which one I liked most, so I sent them all to John and told him he had the decision.  He chose the one above - "Bertie Butternut" ;)
Give-us-a-kiss Pumpkin
- now that pouting piquante pepper should
provide a kiss to remember ;)

(pumpkin body, fennel hair, chilli nose and
piquantè pepper pout)

I then had second thoughts, and finally made a decision, so I re-sent him "Give us a kiss" pumpkin above.  He generously entered that as well.  Thanks, John :)
Lonely Naartjie
- "Crikey, I'm next"...


Robin the Red Rodent
(red pepper body and ears,
onion root whiskers, and
chilli tail)

The only fruit / vegetables which are store bought are the sweet potato, and the naartjie (mandarin).  The rest are all home grown :)

I do not expect to win at all - there are some abso-frigging-lutely stunning entries that put my feeble efforts to shame.  But, who knew what you could do with vegetables ;)  There are some incredbily creative people out there! 

All the completely stunning entries can be found hereherehere, here, here, herehere and here .  Head on over and check them all out - I promise it's worth your time, and will definitely bring a smile to your day...

Personally, I wil never view vegetables I harvest or prepare in quite the same way again - each grapefruit will be a pair of Rachel's, and each yellow pepper will be a scream, and each aubergine I peel will be a (butler) penguin in the making...

I will give a link for the winning entry when John posts it - I wish I was at the show to see all the entries - photographic and physical... :)

Thanks John - that was fun :)

Disclaimer: Please note - no vegetables were killed (nor irreparably injured) during the production of the above photographs and most have subsequently been eaten... LOL

By the way, tomorrow is my birthday - and no, I'm not telling how old, but certainly older than I thought I would ever be.  Reckon I'll just spend the day counting grey hairs ;)  If I don't reply to any comments you make tomorrow please understand - I will reply on Monday...

14 comments:

  1. So who knew I would spend part of my morning looking at weird vegetables! That was fun!
    And a very happy birthday to you, Dani. We aren't old, you know. We are just well seasoned.

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    Replies
    1. Vicki - LOL who knew... :)

      Thanks Vicki - dunno, the number of years is beginning to become scary. well seasoned I can handle :)

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  2. I liked your fruit creatures. You have a great imagination. Happy Birthday. I hope it's a good one.

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    Replies
    1. Oh Harry - my imagination is nothing compared to the other novelty veggies!

      Thanks for the wishes :)

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  3. Happy Birthday!
    I love the creations. I have NO imagination and always admire folks that do!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Sue. Yes, I, too, am amazed at the other creations - from vegetables!!

      Delete
  4. Dani, those are hilarious! You are so creative. And Happy Birthday!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Leigh - LOL glad you enjoyed them. Thanks for the wishes :)

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  5. Happy Birthday!
    Yes, John Gray has done an excellent job of transforming the Trelawnyd Flower Show into an internet global success!
    Have been over to his blog this morning and seen some wonderful pics of it. More to follow soon.

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    Replies
    1. Sandie's Patch - Thank you :)

      John is hysterical - normally brings a grin to my dial when I read his blog :)

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    2. Dani we hope you are having a splendid day and maybe even some much needed rain. Your little veggie characters gave us all a good chuckle....my favorite is the pumpkin.

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    3. AB - Oh, it was an excellent day, thank you :) Rain - oh yes - we've only had 19mm since the 5th July...!

      Delete

Thank you for taking the time to comment - it makes my day and removes the "loneliness' of sitting at my screen blogging supposedly to myself ;) I try and reply as quickly as possible so please forgive me if sometimes my response is delayed.