Catching up on Fair

Young Pygmy goats

The Evergreen State Fair ended on Sept 7th and I gave everything back on the 8th and 9th. When I got home I had a full pear tree of canning to do, a lot of pickles to make and rhubarb to can. Happy to say they are all finished and looking pretty in my shelves. Now I can add my fun fair photos. These are for my friend in Canada, who was a sheep rancher before they retired. She will enjoy seeing these 4-H sheep barns. Maybe you will too!

It was hot during fair and I know what heat does to sheep's wool so I question all these coats!

For my spinning friends I'm not telling you any breeds you have to figure them out

Hows' this for confirmation stanch?

Ooh these ladies are nice and cool!

it's either lunch time or they are giving me and my photo taking a message!

These are nice big barns.

I took my photos on a trip back to see bleach boy he was the livestock manager!

The baby goats are picking up moms spilled lunch

OK off to the cow milking contest.....now these are fast paced and fun!

The contests are all held in the arena in the middle of the animal barns

when I can't find bleach boy I look here.

He has set up and take down issues with each contest.

Warm up the cow, milk the cow fast fast fast

switch cows and do it again

You are looking at the winner of the milking contest!

The milk is then added to the first bucket and weighed for a winner!

I'm now leaving the arena (you are looking at it) and heading down the fairgrounds

to the quilt barn

At exactly 10am Tomorrow I open my doors and....

Yes Tomorrow is opening day at the 101st Evergreen State Fair!

At the moment 10 am hits I open the front doors to our open class building.

Here is my portion of the building in photos. You get an early peek.

Also in building is the lace, knit, crochet, needle arts, floral, bee's, photography, hand spinning, baking, canning, homemade brews, educational displays, the historical booth and the local granges put out a beautiful display of the produce grown in our area.

Here we are in my dept. Sewing and Quilting

Looking in the front door down the west bay of building 500

This is the glass room, usually it holds a wedding dress or two but not this year

This on the right just as you walk in

We hang the quilts down both sides of the center

one facing front, one facing back they go all the way down the hall

That's my table where I sit with my own little fan

I don't get to sit too often but there is a lot of paper work before people get paid. I am right next to the glass room

This glass case is next to my office and that display on the right as you come in the door

The two tables there hold lots of demonstrators

I run three groups a day for four hours each

This display is next to the demo table

This glass case holds all my small entries, little things to be carefully displayed

We hang quilts in every nook and cranny

This center three tables hold quilts this year, we guard them with a stapled sheet of plastic

I have three big bins to display the clothing in

On each item is a colored card. The violets, greens and blue are children, White is adult, pink is expert, gray is challenged, cream is over 70. The kids do a lot of the garment sewing.

This is on the wall of that first display area at the door

My office the hot spot for sewing machine storage

Haven't taken photos from the other end of the hall got called away to another Department and never got back for the rest of my photos so latter...................

I'll have a purple cow for you, eat an elephant ear, and drink lots of lemonade!

Update on Phil

UPDATE: Tons of appointments, classes, tests, now waiting for the bills. However it all told the Cardiac Dr. that Phil was doing good and could go back to swimming yesterday. He's a happy fellow now.

We are in our work season. Fair opens on Aug 27th. It's hard work so I'm not sure how often he will get out to swim but he felt really great on his first day back.

More later after a few more tests. But all is looking much better than a few weeks ago and we are marking major changes to our diet mostly very easily.

Rainbow fairy has a home!

The yellow spots are from an egg we did some polish painting on and one year it bursts all over the place!

I owed my sister a fairy top.

She was our first purchase many months ago. I let her have her pick of all the new ones and Auntie Georgia still choose the original one she saw when we first started these. Who would know I was in the mood for a rainbow when I painted her fairy.

It felt wonderful to be painting again.

My old worn brushes felt like dear old friends in my hands. Not the same hands as when I first bought some of these in college. I remember switching to night classes so I could think and finding that art just flows from my hands at night. I should try that again. I don't know if the paintings on the walls of my house were more fun or if these tiny fairies are the hardest, there by more fun. Something about capturing a face, a personality is ever so much more interesting.

I did a series of pencil drawings of women in all kinds of times and places and I love faces. Every now and again I ask myself "why am I not drawing?" Got too busy I guess. Sitting in the critical care unit hour after hour was made better by drawing fairy face after face on paper.

What are you forgetting to do that you love?

Maybe we should calendar it in so it's part of our schedule. I did that with the piano, I love to play and never gave myself any time. I have a beautiful studio grand and it should be played! Miss Lyndy are you giving yourself time to play? You are a very talented lady don't let it go......

So Monday I'll bundle up Rainbow Fairy and send her to her new home.