Mushrooms, sprouts and the Marshfield Paperboys

There are bloggers who paint pictures with their words, I like painting pictures with um pictures. Others paint words on pictures, which is often illegal vandalism.

Sometimes I feel like an agony uncle. I read things on the Internet and in the papers and think, oh my!.

Most recently, someone decided to try and make a few bob by making and selling wreaths with bits of leaves, twigs etc that they picked up in their garden to the locals.

It's a good job it wasn't my garden, as dog crap left by unknown and uncaring local dog owners would have featured. Such wreaths would not have been popular.

Anyway, the question was asked "Does anyone have any ideas for things to make wreaths with?" (I paraphrase).

One day early in January six or so years ago S and I, accompanied by Jane L and Catherine went to a small town not too far from Bath called Marshfield. Yes it was cold, a bit wet, so why, why, why?

Well there was to be a performance by the Marshfield Mummers, otherwise known as the Marshfield Paperboys. Basically a troupe of local men dressed head to toe in strips of newspaper make their way up the main street, starting outside a pub of course. One of the characters not dressed in paper strips is a doctor. They perform a small play, which includes slaying other paper people with wooden swords etc. I cannot remember the gist of it, but St George and Scaracens usually features in such plays you can look for info on the internet if you can be bothered. Once the performance is completed they solemnly march up the street a hundred or so meters and perform the mummer's play again etc. The performance takes place in the middle of the main road and the excited crowd gather round them in a big circle.

Here are two photos that I took on the day.

You are so impatient! Okay. Well as we stood about in the gloom, stamping our feet, gloved hands in pockets to try and keep warm while the tardy Paperboys prepared to perform, by drinking quantities of ale inside the pub. We could not but help noticing that there were wreaths hanging on the majority of the doors in the main street. Could those really be sprouts? Yes there was a sprouts wreath. It must have been a local competition as there was a first prize mushroom? wreath and the sprouts had a highly commended label. I also took a photo of a wreath made from peacock and other feathers too. The other wreaths were nowt special.

So my suggestion for the distressed wreath maker, is, in no particular order, Sprouts, funghi, feathers. Now all I need to do is wait for my commission on her sales to flood in to my Paypal account...