Election day is Fun Day at our school. Like many state schools in Victoria, we are a polling station and election days are a great time to hold a fete and raise money for things like library books and building and grounds improvements.  This year My Man and I decided to run a Learn to Juggle stand as part of our little cog in the big machine that is Fun Day.  That meant a month of joyful making of juggling balls for our kits.

They are cut from cotton drill in the shape of an equilateral triangle. I used a rotary cutter and mat and the work went quickly.

Then there was the machine sewing.

I used up all my bits and bobs of sewing thread cos matching thread wasn’t critical.

Then came the filling with lentils which was undertaken by a variety of children, visitors to our home and of course, My Man.

I did the hand sewing to stitch them closed. On my way to making three hundred of these little beasties, I quite fell in love with their appealing wee forms.

They look like empty wontons like this.

And like delicious samosas like this.

And like a jube rainbow like this.

We packaged them up in some lovely coffee baggies donated by a friend. Each kit came with three juggling balls and an instruction sheet on how to get going and build your skills. My Man has been teaching his students to juggle for years and has a way with breaking skills down and then putting it all together into actual juggling. Alas, the skills of teaching and of juggling are not mine, but I can sew the blessed things.

We looked luffley on the day and My Man juggled his big heart out, gave personal instruction and ran a Learn to Juggle workshop in the Workshop Tent.  We did just fine and it was fun fun fun.

But as I mentioned, we were but a small cog, placed by greater minds into the marvelous feat of logistics, hard yakka and faith that is the Fun Day Machine.

There were Bouncy Castles, Dig for Treasure, Snail Races, Lucky Jars, a Plant Stall, Trash and Treasure, Face Painting, Massage, Nachos, Sausages, Snow Cones, Fairy Floss, an Obstacle Course, Games, Workshops, a Craft Stall, a Cake Stall, Musical Performers and a Silent Auction.

Phew! And that was all mums and dads baking cakes, growing plants, loaning bubble cars, trestle tables, umbrellas, putters. Mums and dads making the fairy floss, sizzling the sausages, cooking the jam and serving the lemonade. It is an amazing thing to be a part of, to get a sense of the massive work undertaken by generous, capable folks and to feel connected to a bigger community.

Our Dear Boy wept at the day’s end, for the sadness of the end of Fun Day.  But you can count on elections…they will return, as will Fun Day.