after the fair

The State Fair was so much fun - as always! WEee wandered and soaked it in for about five hours till our brains were full.

This year, there was even something for DH to buy. There are special welding sticks used for welding aluminum. The booth was three deep in mature men with callused hands, all watching the demo with avid interest. The guy doing the demo was so practiced that he was able to conduct our purchase without skipping a beat. DH had the rods out and was looking them over with pleasure last night. Toys to take to work.

I bought a "popcorn" shirt. Lying on the counter, it looks just about big enough to fit a small cat. But it is deeply textured and the "popcorns" stretch right out quite easily. It makes a cute, lightweight t-shirt. Just the ticket for sticking in a suitcase since it will NOT wrinkle and is supposed to be hand-washed in cold water, then laid flat to dry. It's some kind of acetate, so not suitable for long hot days, but it's a nice clean shirt to cram in your purse and wear to dinner while the airline looks for your luggage.

We said hello to the sheepies and the bunnies. The llamas and alpacas and poultry had been shown last week, so no goofy feather-booted birds or ducks with pompadors this year. We gazed in admiration at the quilts. Queen of the show was a king-sized all white quilt that relied entirely on the exquisite hand-quilting to give it interest. Stunning! Just stunning. And how many hours of human labor went into that? There was also a foxy black and yellow strapless prom dress and matching suit-coat made entirely of duct tape! Omigawd!

So, a challenge to you. Let's get stuff entered in County and State Fairs next year. I will enter at least three poems, a sweater, and something crocheted. You can hold me to it. If I don't, may I be put in the punishment corall with all the other self-published authors with books piled before me, and people hurrying by, trying not to make eye-contact.

You can find information on how to enter things in the fair at your local library, or by golly, I bet you can even look it up on line. Start planning now! And good luck to us all