Today The Grand Hotel was holding the event of the summer; its ‘Grand Family Day’ and I had been convinced to take up a much specialised job role. Today my purpose was of a very different nature indeed (nature being the operative word), yes, today I was in charge of the animals.
I arrived at the Hotel bright and early for the excursion to our friends at Pennywell Farm to pick a few individuals I had briefly met before. After a four minute crash course in Guinea Pig handling I was ready and raring to go. Today the suit was discarded so I could get stuck in as I loaded the van with straw bales, saw dust and the star attractions’ food. Throughout the journey back I kept glancing in the rear view mirror half expecting one of my furry colleagues to pop their head over the seats, but we all arrived back on the seafront safely.
A short time to set up on the terrace and we were ready for action. Just one more element to be put into place, Roxy the rabbit. Now I’m no rabbit expert but I’m pretty sure they aren’t all this big and that seemed the general consensus, as the typical comment from the mums and dads that day was ‘Come and look at the size of this rabbit!’ Okay it wasn’t eight foot like I had told my taxi driver the night before convincing him to come along, which he reminded me of when he turned up at the event, but Roxy certainly looked the part.
The children loved the attraction and the event itself as they roamed through the function rooms of the hotel with their face painted, a spring in their step from the bouncy castle and the odd bit of straw in their hair. It was just my job to keep the children entertained whilst dad tucked into the barbeque and mum tried her luck at hook-a-duck.