The morning of the Woodenbong Show dawned bright and clear, Eric and Maggie had a big day planned and a special guest to entertain. Their local member of parliament, now a distinguished politician, accompanied by his wife would call in at their small dairy to freshen up before opening the Woodenbong Show at mid-day.

The long dry spell had lowered to level in the rainwater tank and Maggie was being careful with the drinking water. Her guests arrived after a three-hour drive and welcomed the offer of a hot cup of tea before the day’s activities.

The kettle was put on to boil as old friends settled into farmer talk of drought and cattle prices.
Maggie poured the tea into her best mugs and settled back into her chair. A mildly surprised look passed across the face of each person at the table as they sipped their tea, Eric noticed an oily film across the top of his tea, and an unpleasant smell. Could a bird have fallen into the rainwater tank, he would look when he arrived home that evening.

The party headed off to the Woodenbong Show. A big event in the district with the very best of local produce and handcrafts on display. The local women were famous for their needlework, maintaining their skills in this isolated mountainous region when those skills had been lost to women living modern lives.

The pavilions were crowded with exhibits and locals were eager to see how their work had been judged.

The cattle were paraded, admired and criticized; young girls displayed their skills in the equestrian events and people talked as only country people do. The show day was the highlight of the year.
The official opening of the show went as those ceremonies always do, but the at the attention to one particular issue by the local member was very apparent. Every constituent who complained about the local water supply was given the honorable member’s undivided attention.

When Eric and Maggie arrived home they set about finding the problem in their drinking water.
Eric climbed onto the roof and peered into the rainwater tank but could find nothing. Maggie was mystified but decided to use the well water for making the tea until to mystery was solved. Cleaning the kettle would be the first job, so she took the kettle and threw the contents onto the parsley plant growing in a pot beside the back door.

PLOP, Maggie stood silent for a moment; landing on top of her parsley plant was a long dead mouse.

Picture Cattle and flowers/ lots of people at a show day gathering