Welp, what a day! I've been getting my exhibits ready for the local Agricultural Show all day, (in between checking back to see whether we still have a Sigrun), and have had one of those days when carefully prepared containers slide out of the hands and break just as they are being packed, decorated fancy labels smudge on the last carefully inked word, and somebody who was expected to arrive a couple of days ago and didn't, suddenly turned up today and was time-consuming in the middle of it all. Arrggh!
However, my exhibits are in, except for the fresh fruits, for which I just missed the deadline. Pity, I really thought I had a chance at a first for peaches and cooking apples this year. Ah, well, if that is the worst thing that happens all week we are well ahead of the game! So, this year I'm showing: quince and rose geranium jelly, quince paste, savoury apple paste, brandied cumquats, and my home-brewed cyser mead (cyser mead is like a regular mead, that is, based on honey, but with apple juice instead of water).
I'm not entering any liqueurs this year, because I've won the liqueurs section for the last three years running, including overall Grand Champion of brewing for one of those years, so it wouldn't be fair. However, I expect that the formidable ladies of the Country Women's Association will defeat me utterly at preserves. I'll let you all know tomorrow night how my cyser mead went.