19 August 2007

A weekend at the county fair

This weekend was our local county fair, and this year was the first year we could really participate in the events.

Friday night is the big Tractor Pull - which I haven't ever actually seen, as that night our 4-H club works the concession booth. It's one of our best fundraising events, and wow, were we ever busy this year! I managed to pause long enough to drink one can of pop between 5:30 and 11:00, when we finally shut the doors. What a great night!

The Reluctant Farmer brought Princess Girl and Dinosaur Boy to the fair, and we all spent Friday night in the motorhome on the fairgrounds. It wasn't really a *quiet* evening, but we did eventually all get to sleep, and we were ready for the parade in the morning. The kids think the parade is just wonderful, as at the country parade the people throw candy to the spectators. This isn't done in the city anymore, as it is deemed a liability ... but in the country you can still have this kind of old-fashioned fun. There were people on horses, miniature donkeys, and kids on bikes ... and a tired, costumed goat that was handed off to me as he was too worn out to finish the route!

Saturday afternoon The Reluctant Farmer and his kids headed back to the city for one last trip to their old house. This weekend marks the beginning of our new combined family: the house in the city passes to it's new owner on Tuesday, and our transition to one household is just about complete. Of course, it'll all be much more comfortable once the addition is finished, but in the interim, many of The Reluctant Farmer's things are in storage, and we will manage to fit everyone into the house and motorhome until construction is complete.

Back at the fair, The Boy and I were busy with the pet show Saturday afternoon. I volunteered for handing out prizes and getting the kids and their pets into the ring, and The Boy showed his various animals. My favourite category this year was the "pet and owner lookalike" competition: there were two girls with their pet cats, and The Boy and Duggan, our beagle. The Boy told the judge, "I have short hair, he has short hair. I have big ears, he has big ears. I'm dirty, he's dirty!" Apparently the judge agreed, and The Boy took first prize in that category. :) His pet bunny also won first place, and he received a wonderful package of bunny treats from one of the show sponsors.

We didn't have many entrants in the sheep show, just The Boy and I - meaning we were competing against each other! I showed Cola, one of the last set of lambs born here this year (the one with one black ear). The Boy showed his 4-H lamb, Cherub, and the judge placed Cola first and Cherub second. I was really excited to win a ribbon: The Boy gets to compete all the time in 4-H events, but this was my very first time showing a sheep, and I took first place! Okay, so I was only competing against my own kid (who took second, yay!) but still.





The last event of the fair was the bench show. There are a wide variety of categories to enter: everthing from flower arrangements and vegetables from your garden to artwork done in class and photographs. We entered in every category we could think of, just for the fun of it all!
A dozen of our free range farm eggs won second place! That was eggciting. :)

The Boy brought home a first place ribbon for some artwork he did at school, and a grand total of four second place ribbons and six third place ribbons! His photograph of Gram Picking Berries was one of his third place winners ...
























and his photo of Little Red took second place:















The winter scene that The Boy photographed for Grandpa was a third place winner, too:

2 comments:

  1. Anonymous10:47 am

    Whew!!! That was a big weekend at the fair!! So much fun!! It has been a LONG time since we have been to a country fair!!

    Love you, AC

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  2. Anonymous2:02 pm

    Looks like country life agrees with you! Congrats to all the winners....and especailly to the mom who makes it possible. Without her help and support, I doubt many of these adventures would happen.
    Auntie Sharon

    ReplyDelete

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