Blooming marvellous wins!

Susan Edwards has been using her skills to win prizes for over 10 years, with dazzling results!

Some years back I was into competitions in a big way and I am pleased to say I won a Piaggio Scooter, £1,000 of Viyella clothes, a dishwasher, a lawnmower, a garden patio set, two water features, an irrigation kit for the garden and also a computerised garden lighting set, as well as a kitchen sink, whiskey and lots of books, CDs, bottles of wines, boxes of chocolates, three kettles, two toasters, a Kenwood Food mixer, £400 worth of plants, and lots of other stuff… too much to mention!

I stopped comping due to family problems but started again this year, in earnest.  I have noticed that slogan competitions, which I really loved entering, are thin on the ground now but many many competitions can be entered on the internet.  Although I find this convenient, from the comfort of my own home and not having to fork out for postage, I do feel that skill elements are non-existent, unless you enter a competition where the sponsor specifically requires a certain kind of skill, like writing a poem, a story, doing a painting or something similar.

At the start of the year I was lucky enough to win a Bissell home cleaning vac which is a very sophisticated vacuum cleaner with on-board cleaner, not only for carpets but for upholstery and wooden floors too.  This was a postcard competition.  This was followed some weeks later by a crate of lovely sparkling rose wine.  I also bagged a set of crystal glasses, as well as a vase and fruit bowl.  Then things calmed down a little whilst I got on with my other passion - gardening. 

 

Now this is where I combine my love of gardening with my love of entering competitions.  I entered the Garden News annual competition.  This is a great competition because there are lots of categories so you can pick what you want to enter.  I entered "Best Container" as well as "Best Greenhouse".  I actually got second in both categories (or runner's up prizes), but as it happens my prizes in terms of value totaled more than had I won just one category!  A journalist and a photographer called and took many pictures and I spent a pleasant hour or so discussing my garden. 

 

I have been featured twice in the magazine in recent months and I won a selection of garden seeds/bulbs of my choice which will come in very handy for 2010, some raspberry canes which I was going to buy so that saved me some money, a purpose built frame for growing my runner beans and a sprinkler for the garden.  I was allowed to select what I wanted from the promotors' catalogues.  Oh, nearly forgot, also got a selection of patio ceramic pots. 

 

Following on the heels of that win, I was thrilled to be informed I had won another gardening related competition - this time in Garden Answers.  Entrants had to grow the biggest dahlia bloom they could and then photograph it and send in a picture.  Imagine my joy when I was informed I had won with my 14 inch whopper. My prize this time was £250 vouchers from a major supplier of plants and bulbs.  Their new catalogue has just been published and I relish the thought of looking through this on a cold winter's day, selecting my items for the forthcoming season!

 

The other day I received a large Jiffy bag and just put it to one side, thinking it must be some horticultural bits I had ordered. Imagine my delight when I opened it and discovered it was a designer handbag my Emma Cook! Looking up the details of the competition online, I discovered it was worth a whopping £650 and only 35 of them had been made.

 

I can’t wait to see what 2010 brings!

 

Susan Edwards

 

P.S. Yesterday I noticed that my answer machine was flashing when I came home. I was amazed when I played back the message to hear that I have won a weekend for two at Ashbourne Cookery School in Devon. Accommodation is included and I can choose a course to suit me, a prize worth a whopping £800!