Gulgong Show Weekend Feb 19-20

The first (non-family) guests for 2011 are Melba Toast, and her new husband The Boy.  They were actually hitching their booking onto that of Miss L (Winner Best Guest 2010 Singles Section), which necessitated some quick negotiation.  Was Miss L happy to share the booking with other guests or was she anticipating a quiet weekend with just me gossiping about the tv industry?  Would the two sets of guests be compatible?  And - far more important - would they compare notes and realise the whole Best Guest thing is a cunning plan to pit guests against each other to extract maximum work from each?

On the other hand, did I really want to extract too much work this weekend?  It was going to be in the high 30's, it was the show weekend and Miss L's last visit did leave me - sweaty as a pig, encrusted in dirt and at only 10 in the morning - reminding myself that eventually this day would be over... wouldn't it?

In the end I decided the influence of Melba and The Boy might provide a calming influence on Miss L and discourage her from overly-strenuous garden activity (boy, was I wrong about that!)

Fortunately, the combination of personalities was a winner.  Witty banter ebbed and flowed (along with the free beer at the Home Brew Competition), Melba's birthday was celebrated in style, and crucial farm work was done - despite the limited time.  There was a tricky moment where the guests all ganged up on the rooster (goodness knows what possessed The Magnificent Rooster to start crowing at 1.30am) and discussing his speedy transition to the oven, but I was able to distract them (Oh, is that the time?  Won't the Cute Pet Section be judging about now?)  City people.  So easy to distract.

Full details of the show activities have been brilliantly reviewed by Melba here, so all that's left for me to do is assess the running tally.  Naturally the full scoring process and progressive score must be kept secret (did I mention the need to keep those guests on their toes?) but here are some highlights:

Miss L:
Persistence in gardening tasks despite distractions -  10 points
Persistence in gardening tasks despite distractions -   minus 10 points

Melba:
General enthusiasm for all things Gulgong show - 10 pts
Most Improved Prize (for this year NOT mistakenly ripping out the herb garden) - 10 pts

The Boy:
Lifting big heavy things in the paddock - 20 pts
Not agreeing with the others that the rooster's goose should be cooked! - 20 pts

The moral of this tally:
Clearly it's important to help - but not too much.

That said, when I get my act together I will post a photo of the sublime state in which Miss L has left the herb garden.

And that's it from me - until the next lot of visitors...