Exhibition day.

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Today was exhibition day. But before that we went to the coffee morning down the church. Which meant I got up two hours earlier than I usually do on a Saturday! I had porridge for breakfast, and we went out to the coffee morning at about 10:15pm. My step-dad drove us because it was pouring down with rain, but he didn't stay. They went and got me a comfy chair because the only chairs they'd got out were the hard plastic chairs that are cold and give me back ache! While I was waiting for them to get my comfy chair I got my cup of green tea. I'd brought my tea bag from home again and a lady got me a proper mug. Mum found me a mini packet of ginger nut biscuits, with 3 in. There were little parcels on the tables with packets of love hearts in them, so I took one of those. I kept fanning myself because I was having hot flushes. We stayed until nearly 12:00 noon. Then I was given another of the little packets of ginger nut biscuits to take home. Frances gave us a lift home and we said seeing as she was taking us up to Wall Village Hall for the exhibition, why didn't she stay for lunch, save driving back and forth. So she did. Mum cooked her some battered chicken, chips and peas and I made her a cup of tea. I didn't have time to wash up before we went out again so I left it til I came back. Before we went out I showed Frances my sketchbook that I'd been practising animals in, and she was very impressed. We got ready and set off. I'd made a note of the directions on Thursday when I was in the taxi, so I played back seat driver and told Frances where to go and when. I'd memorized the way perfectly, and we got there quite quickly. We found the car park which is a bit further on from the hall on the right, and when we'd parked we walked back to the hall. There weren't many people there when we got there, just the tutors and a couple of other people. There were tables set out in the middle of the hall with tablecloths on, and the paintings were displayed on the walls and windows. I looked round to see where my pictures were. I spotted a few of them quite quickly. The tutor, Tina, asked me if I'd found my pictures yet, and I said a few. But I soon spotted the others. The pictures were all arranged according to medium. Pencil drawings were first, then oil pastels, then watercolours and lastly acrylics. I walked round the hall with my Mum and Frances and pointed out my paintings to them. My pencil drawings of the horse and cup and saucer were over the door that we'd just come in through. Then my watercolour painting of the Spanish Villa was on a window the other side. Then my acrylic painting of the mother and baby elephant was above the teas and coffees hatch. My paintings of the street scene in Provence and the sunflower in acrylics were situated further along that wall. When I'd finished showing my Mum and Frances my paintings, we got a cup of tea, and ofcause I had one of my green tea T-bags with me! After I'd timed the brewing of my tea I went and sat down with my Mum and Frances at one of the tables. When Paul came in with his sister he came up to me and said, Sharon, you know they don't know which ones are ours do they? So I was thinking I should show them the best ones and say that those are mine! I tutted and said, don't go pointing at mine! When he'd gone to show his sister his paintings, my Mum said to me, was that Paul? And I said yes. I think she wants to get me off with him, because she said, he seems nice, is he married? I said Mum! Later Paul's sister came up to me and asked me which ones were mine. Obviously Paul had been singing my praises. So I went round again pointing out which ones were mine. (I was to do this quite often during the course of the afternoon!) A bit later, my friend Yasmin came in. I gave her a hug and asked her where her husband was. She said he was just parking up. I introduced her to Tina, the tutor and said this is my friend that's going to be coming with me next year. When her husband, John, joined us, I went round pointing out my paintings again. Then when I'd showed her them all, and she'd looked at other peoples too, I told her to help herself to a cup of tea or something. Then Penny from church came in, and I repeated the process. The same with Dawn. She came with her fiance Ian and Ian's friend. Then a lady from church came in but I didn't know her name! I later found out her name is Louise. She had her young son with her, probably about 10, but I forget what she said his name is! After everyone had looked at the pictures, they got a cup of tea and a piece of cake or a biscuit, and sat down. There were a lot of people milling around. I wasn't expecting there to be so many! At one point Ian asked me where he should put the donations for the refreshments and I said, Oh, there's no need, it's free. After a while people started leaving and one by one my friends said they had to go. At about 5:45pm, one of the tutors said we could start collecting our pictures to take them home. I had to wait for someone to get mine down for me, because they were too high up! So when I'd got my pictures we got ready to go. One of the tutors said goodbye and I said, see you next summer! (I should have sung that bit from Sam Ryder's song Fought and Lost which goes "And we will see you here, same time, same place, next year..." Missed a trick there! ) Frances took us home and we hurried in before it started raining. Later I showed my step-dad all my pictures because he hadn't seen them yet. All in all it was a very good day. What did you do today?