A lace parasol

is lying open on the trestle table. Next to it there is a single "hand"  holding a dainty little crochet bag and two jugs with beaded covers. Another beaded cover, complete with a tiny crochet "teapot" lies next to them.
These are some of the entries for the "Queen Victoria Challenge" in  the Handicrafts section of the state's Royal Agricultural and Horticultural Society annual "Show".
We have been accepting the items people have entered for the last two and a half hours. It's been busy.  People have been moving backwards and forwards putting things in the right places on the trestle tables ready for judging.
One woman  has come in with five exquisite pieces of lace knitting. It's the first time she has entered anything, She hopes they are good enough for display. I tell her "yes". I don't tell her that something will win a prize, possibly more than one thing. What I do know is that the judge is going to be delighted with the standard. 
Someone else comes in without the paperwork. She didn't actually get any but she shows us the email receipt for the online entry and the Convenor organises paperwork and apologies. I take entries from familiar faces. One person who tried last year is trying again and has taken on board all the advice he was given. (Later he gets a Commended which will please him immensely. He knows he is still learning.) 
There is a lovely "squishy" soft toy that everyone wants to hug. (It wins a first.) 
   "What's that?" someone ask and we all look at something for the 100gms or less class in knitting.  It's a belt with a purse and a pocket - to use while walking the dog...and yes, it won a first being both imaginative and well constructed.
The judge arrives and we all head off for a quick mug of tea and the excellent home made cake or scones the Country Women's Association makes. The woman who comes up from the canteen knows me by now and says, "Cheese salad sandwich for lunch Cat?" I tell her "Yes please" because they have to be among the best cheese salad sandwiches in the state. Yes, they do feed  the workers!
And then the judging begins. I leave the judge alone with the other steward for the first class  because I have broken my own rule and put something in this year.  I don't look when I get back from "talking to A... about something" either. I doubt it has won any prizes. There were other reasons to put it in. We all go on. The judge grumbles cheerfully about how hard it is to choose between two items of what she feels are of equal value. 
    "What do you think?" she asks people and explains her thinking about each. That helps her decide and, decision made, she moves on to the next class.
By mid-afternoon we have finished and the judge leaves us to put things in cabinets.
     "Well done," someone tells me. I think they are referring to my own very small entry in the Queen Victoria section. The Challenge was my idea so I felt bound to put something in there. I didn't expect it to win a prize but it has a third. 
     "Yes, that - and your vest. You got a first for that," J.... tells me. I look at her in disbelief and she says, "Come and look."
G.... has already put it in one of the display cabinets. For some reason it doesn't look like my work. I go back to what I was doing. We look for misplaced cards - a mild panic until someone realises that two have been stapled together. 
Things get juggled into cabinets. There never seems to be enough room but, somehow, things do get displayed.
This morning a professional will come in and deal with the big central display cabinet. The parasol, which has won best in section, will no doubt be hung from the top of that. I am pleased as I know the person who made it. I know how much work went into that. 
A lot of work goes into everything. The people I work with keep asking me "How do you do that?" of pieces of knitting and crochet and I try to explain. If they can knit or crochet it is easier  but not all of them can. They embroider, spin, weave, make mosaics or turn timber.  
And all of these are good because people are making things with their hands.