I’ve been working today all day and our visitors arrived at 6.30pm so it’s all been a bit of a dash…..although doing the lion’s share of the cooking yesterday meant I could serve up a respectable meal quickly and easily. The whisk from yesterday was whisking egg whites to make a mocha mousse (bitter chocolate and espresso coffee, served in cups on saucers with whipped cream and chocolate grated on top).

When I realised the arrival of one of my oldest (in time of friendship rather than years) friends and also my “flower lady” (Janet) who’s going to do the flowers for my wedding, was coinciding with the best TV event of the year in my view, I was a bit perturbed in case I lost my chance to watch the spectacle that is the Eurovision Song Contest.

Anyway, I decided on “attack as the best form of defence” so I presented it as a fait accompli rather than offering a choice. I printed the Beeb’s scorecards and away we went.

As any Eurovision Brit will know, Terry Wogan, he of the acerbic wit, who treats the whole event with downright ridicule, retired from Eurovision in 2008 so we had a new presenter. Graham Norton was seen on TV saying that Terry had phoned him saying the only bit of advice he was giving to Graham was “don’t hit the drink before the fifth act”!

I’m not sure whether our guests took to Eurovision (having been distinctly anti when they arrived) with such gusto because we ignored Terry’s advice or if they were just surprised by how much you can get sucked into it by watching. I doubt I’ve made them “regulars” but I’m sure they had a better time watching than they expected to.

Here is John’s scorecard – as you’ll see, I think he reached his boredom/crap filter at around the time of Estonia’s airtime (2/3 of the way through) and he resorted to “rubbish, rubbish, rubbish” for the remaining acts.

Anyway, I think a good time was had by all in the Alstead/Mingay household (soon to be (Mingay/Mingay – hee hee) so that’s what counts. A nice bit of light entertainment/light relief for a busy day.