2013 Beaudesert Show

It was a long day but it was certainly worth it...

Our son entered four of our seven chickens into different categories for the Beaudesert Show. So at ten to seven this morning we packed up the chickens and the family and drove the three quarters of an hour to the show.

When we arrived we were lucky enough to be allowed to drive the car into the grounds to drop off the chickens. We were showing the following:

Jellybean the black Australorp for prettiest female
Squeebles the black Silkie for friendliest female
Lucky Muffin the Rhode Island Red for best dressed (in chook clothes) female
Sookie the Light Sussex for fattest female

Squeebles won second place, Lucky Muffin (dressed as a cheerleader) won first place and Sookie won second place. All in all we won $8 which covered the entrance fee. We were looking forward to the experience because we had never done anything like this before. In the car my wife and I could not imagine our parents doing this for us when we were thirteen - well, maybe my mother might have taken me.

There was plenty happening so we walked around a lot. I looked at all the places that were selling coffee before deciding on the one I thought most likely to sell good coffee (or least likely to sell bad coffee). There was a mostly purple sign declaring this coffee had won some kind of award or other in 2011. Can you tell how much I liked it by how many details I remember? :) Google is helping but is slow at the moment. I looked at the menu and noticed he had a picture of owls each of which depicted the level of caffeine. They ranged from decaf to double espresso (with the cutest big eyes). No, I didn't take a picture - sorry. I asked the guy for a double espresso and he raised his eyebrows. Then he asked if I wanted to try his signature dink. It is called Aloysius - triple shot with Irish Creme flavour. I only hesitated briefly before saying yes. And it was really good (especially since it was only $4.50). The coffee itself (I believe it may have been Silipos but I am not 100% sure) was very smooth and the Irish Creme flavour took the edge off. I loved it.

We also bought home two types of honey: one macadamia and one tea tree. I didn't sample either but my wife like the macadamia honey and I took a punt on the tea tree. In the same pavilion was Springdell Fruit Wines. We have bought from them before. When my uncle got married we ordered a personalised bottle of fortified wine. We tasted their fortified win again and we almost bought a bottle of jabuticaba wine. Fortunately they sell online so we might still be able to buy some later.

I took the princess to see Robinson Family Circus. I was in two minds about it since they featured Darth Vader - a miniature horse - and as a general rules we don't like animals in circuses. They did have one gentleman with a great sense of balance and a lady who performed a curtain climbing act.

While we were walking about my daughter met one of her school friends who was showing her miniature horse called Chief. While we watched she won a first place ribbon for one hurdle course, then the poor girl stumbled on a hurdle in the second course.

Lunch I remember a little better. It was yakisoba with cheese ($9) from Teppanyaki Noodles. The lady serving me asked if I wanted "no meat" and I confirmed that was right. Did they not sell many of that item? Did I look like I wanted or needed meat? It took a little while to cook but it was well worth waiting for.

We stopped at the wood chopping before heading back to the chickens for the announcements in the afternoon. One poor man struck a knot in his piece of wood and had to stop since it jarred his wrist. They had a staggered start but it didn't seem to matter since the man who won started over thirty seconds after the first gentleman. As it happens his wrist recovered enough for him to participate in the two-person sawing contest later.

Obligatory violin observation: every now and then I heard a tune and thought to myself "that would sound cool on a violin". One such song was Love Story (Where Do I Begin) and another was Cotton Eye Joe. I think working a show like that as a roving entertainer would be good fun. At the very least, I would be enjoying myself.

The coffee I had in the morning was so good that I went back for another in the afternoon. I don't need any more coffee today. The lady who made the coffee remembered me. I guess they don't sell many of those signature drinks :)

It was a very long day but lots of fun and lots of new experiences.