That usually involved rushing around the site – trying to cover as much as possible – with The Princess Legend acting as my trusty pack horse.

Although, last year The D-Mac joined us. But it was not the happiest of days for him, after he challenged me to join him in tasting the hottest mustard on display. Especially after his sister and I stole the milk he bought to quench his thirst.

This year, there were no offspring – just The Lioness and her mother.

I reckon I should have entered Witchypoo in the best new machine section of the 2016 field days, as an example of perpetual motion. She never stopped talking for the whole trip.

Deadset, by the time we got to within five kilometres of Henty, my right ear was as big as a cauliflower.

At one stage, I even hopped out of the car when it was apparent we were going to be in a queue for a long time, and walked half way to the field days site.

But then I started to feel guilty about The Lioness having to endure, on her own, the cruel and unusual treatment being inflicted by her mother. And so, I reluctantly returned to the car. 

Next year, the mother-in-law will be getting her own way there. But at least I kept my eyes out for the latest turbo-charged, reversible broom at the field days, so her trip will be comfortable.

With all that said, here’s my helpful A to Z of this week’s opening day:

B: Bar. Hard to find but certainly the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. Also, the big toys for the boys (and girls). Some of the machinery was massive.

C: Community. What a great day for the local community, with lots and lots of moolah to be made.

F: Food. I did my part in supporting the community by visiting every food stall or pavilion; also recognition of 50 (as in fifty) years of service for chairman of the organising committee, Ross Edwards.

H: Duh. HMFD.

K: Kanga, and lots of it, spent to the benefit of the local and wider communities;

L: Logistics. Putting it all together was an incredible achievement.

M: Mothers-in law – not invited next year.

N:  Nightmare. The queue to actually get to Henty over the last five kilometres was unacceptable and something has to be done about it.

O: Organisation of the event was indeed first class.

P: Parking. particularly well-organised.

R: Rain. Usually can be relied on to happen on the first day and seen as a good omen for spring. This year, a bit of relief it didn’t happen on the opening day.

S: Summary, as in a bloody good day, and Soul, as in it was good for it.

U: As in unusual facts. For example, I could have got to the outer suburbs of Melbourne in the same time it took to travel from Albury to Henty.

W: Walking. I easily got my 10,000 steps up for the day, taking a break from riding in the car and walking around all the sites.

Y: Yes, there were a lot of good people there and yes, I will be backing up next year.

This week’s column is interactive and was designed to test the intelligence of our readers (can they pick what letters are missing?) and give them the chance to fill in the dots, as it were.

No, really and truly.