What a difference to life today. We have been at the Liskeard Show in glorious sunshine and blue sky. A happy afternoon was spent watching the judging of cattle, poultry and (strangely) guinea pigs…! I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many guinea pigs in one place at a time.

This lad had won first prize for his calf – I have no idea of the correct farming term either for this breed or the lifestage of the animal. He looks a bit chuffed to walk away with some silverware and a few rosettes. There were quite a few youngsters exhibiting cattle, following in the footsteps of their fathers I suppose. Presumably that’s the only way a young person could find himself with a calf to show.

I wonder how many professions there are where children step into the footsteps of their parents these days. I doubt there are many. Mind you, to have become an accountant, as my Dad ended up (after being a coal miner and then in the RAF) would have bored me rigid and I’d never have become a coal miner or served in the forces in any circumstances.

We were surprised and delighted to find the show is pretty big and extremely impressive for a ‘small’ local show as it was described to us yesterday by our neighbours. There were the usual show features such as food stalls, bouncy castles and all the lobby groups. An unusual bonus for us is that we’ve found suppliers for a few things we needed and hadn’t been able to find down here so have managed to set ourselves up a bit better. Cool.

Last year I was toasting an anonymous guest who was being obnoxious and two years ago, I got excited about something a day too late.