What a Day!

They were queueing outside the door before ten this morning.  At the bells dinging on the Town Hall clock I opened the door and looked at the few in the queue and found the few went round the side of the building and down to the gate!  There must have been folks standing along the street but I dare not look out....
It took two of us to man the till and one to man the phone and deal with folks booking workshops for the kids!  We took the first money at ten and the queue just went on and on and on...  When there was a short break I checked the watch, 11:35 it read!
There were hundreds of them, kids bringing parents and grandparents and a few parents and grandparents bringing kids.  We soon ran out of small change and we had refreshed this three times! The short break was just that, we never got a chance to move and discover how things were going on elsewhere as we had more folks coming in no time to stop.  Add to this the trouble of controlling two, three or more kids, the need to offer them trails and things to look for, and some coming in while others go out, you can imagine the controlled chaos.  Occasionally I asked "Are these all yours?" To receive the gleeful answer "No!"  There were questions re prices and kids wishing to buy this and that at the same time as this was going on, VIPs (they say) coming in to look (One councillor actually paid an entrance fee!  I made sure he had his receipt in case he needs to claim it back) and the VIPs then left speaking to everyone, well one i know spoke to me at least, then the people returned and he got shifted aside.

  
It was after one before I could be relieved for a tea stop.  My ten o'clock tea had been sipped twice in the morning and was somewhat tepid by one, and even then I got caught up in one of the two complaints we received.  However I soon fixed that - I put the kettle on and waited till she had gone home.
Only then could I visit the owls sitting quietly in the big hall.  Five of them just sitting staring at folks and waiting till the camera was focused on them before turning their heads around!  Brutes!  These owls are lovely things.  Five different sizes, all apparently happy, none fussy about the visitors, kept at a  discreet distance, and one keen to sit on the ladies hand rather than the stool provided.  These creatures are worth a look up close if you ever get the chance.

   
Not much chance to take other pictures today.  Far too busy at first with the till and the folks arriving and as always we have to be careful taking pictures with children about.  On top of that I was too tired by then to care!  The place was flooded with people, the temperature rising and I just wanted to go home for the Swedish massage (which has not appeared) and sleep for 24 hours.  
The magician, the card trick man the potion tray (very popular as they all took small bottles filled with potions home with them) and all the other things appeared to be popular.  Only two complaints were heard but out of 500 or so visitors that's not bad. 
Now I just wish to sleep...