The Year of Seconds

The Mudgeeraba Show was on the weekend.  I managed to exhibit 14 entries. From this I attained 10 ribbons including the Champion Exhibitor in the Confectionary Section. I can't complain about that, although the Preserves were a bit of a let down. Rosella Jelly, Jaboticaba Jelly, Lemon Butter and Strawberry Jam all received zilch. The hotly contested marmalade class, which I must admit is the one closest to my heart, brought home the bacon. Yep - my orange marmalade took the blue ribbon. Very happy with that result. The only other blue I managed this year was in the Date Cake class.

My toffees received a third place and every other one of my entries took out second - six in all.
They were:

• Caramel Macadamia Fudge - Confectionary
• Caramels - Confectionary
• Coconut Ice - Confectionary
• Marble Cake - Cooking Our Way from the CWA
• Colour Portrait - Photography
• Colour Landscape - Photography

I was utterly blown away with the photography. I am a total amateur and so to attain this result was really special. I'm still trying to get over those results. The Cooking Our Way section is very competitive and this year was no different. I was very happy with the taste of my marble cake and I felt that I achieved a particularly pleasing icing. The marble swirl was not as effective as the winner and I take my hat off to the judge - she got it right.

So there you have it. Another Mudgee Show, come and gone. This year was particularly fun, not for the exhibits or for the wins, but for the people and the good time I had in general at the show. My daughter Issy and her boyfriend Kyle came up from Melbourne and I think they had an awesome time.

 I caught up with people from the recent election campaign and together with a couple of wines we laughed away the afternoon with our recollections of that time. I even got a kiss from the newly elected, (very handsome I might add) councillor that we fought so hard to see elected. We missed most of the night program as we continued to chat and laugh, get the favourite showbags and of course admire the fireworks show. The auctioning of all the cooking exhibits is fun too! Good old Mudgee - you are one terrific little country agricultural show. See ya next year.

I loved the whole parade including the Australian Light Horsemen, the belted galloways, the cattle,

 the motorbikes, the vintage cars, the showgirls, the chinese dragons (even though they drove me nuts),

the old dishevelled utes but this old tractor was probably my favourite as it cranked its way along

blowing smoky exhaust fumes and reminding me of the good old days.