Friday, September 13, 2013

Fair Time

Rhiannon and I cut out of the Farmers Market early this morning to take advantage of the free admission into our local County Fair for school groups.  We met up with the local homeschooling group we recently joined and walked around the fairgrounds for a while.

We went through the horticulture building, arts and crafts building and I drooled over the cakes and pies on display in the home economics building.  It didn't seem as if there were as many entries in any of the categories this year.  We did an obligatory sweep through the Commercial buildings, saw a few familiar faces and had to run through the aisle with the political hacks trying to slap election stickers on my kid and bribe her future vote with fun sized candy bars.  Which I was actually able to refuse as Rhiannon already had a sucker from one of the church groups.  (Hmmmm.......also trying to vie for my child's "vote" using candy.  Sneaky buggers.)

We then made our way towards the move odoriferous areas of the fair.  First was the Critter Barn where the smaller livestock were held.  Chickens that made my barnyard flock look like a bunch of meth-head, white trash poultry.  Rabbits in all sizes and furry-ness.  Pigeons that looked as if they were giving me a double-take by craning out their necks then suddenly pulling their little heads in like it was going to be sucked into their chest.  And some of the biggest looking tom turkeys I've ever laid eyes on (Which didn't have any toenails.  Is that normal to lop them off for show??)

Then we went into the larger barn where the cattle, goats, sheep and hogs were kept.  I just kept thinking about burgers, lamb chops and bacon.  And while there was really nothing for Rhiannon to "Ooooh and Aaaahhh" about as farm animals are pretty much a daily sight, she did point out a few of the hogs that she'd like to have.  As would I because we've long since consumed the bacon from our last hog and have only breakfast sausage left.
Petting the Pork Chop (with the owner's permission, of course).
Rhiannon was also a bit disappointed in the fact that the midway was closed until later that evening.  I however, was much relieved as I didn't want to have to be Mean Mommy and try explaining to her why every other kid in the world was on the rides but she wasn't allowed to go on them.  (Carnival rides freak me out.  How safe can one of those rides be when you can break them down in ten minutes then shove them into a travel trailer smaller than my Hyundai??  Or I'm just being paranoid?  Or both.)  I'm also a cheap skate.  One of the kiddie rides was four tickets.  Tickets are a buck-fifty each.  No thanks.  I would have much rather spent the six bucks on a sub-par, disappointingly-small funnel cake served by a teenager using a pair of tongues she just picked up off the floor. (I saw that one year. Seriously.)

So another County Fair has come and gone.  Paul asked me earlier this week why I've never entered anything into the Fair.  I told him it really didn't "do" it for me.  My blue ribbon for baking / cooking is the enjoyment my family gets from stuffing a cookie or baked chicken down their maws.  But I may enter something along with Rhiannon when she's old enough to pick out a category or animal.  And I'm hoping that it's something like "Photography" or "Jams & Jellies" instead of "Market Steers".

7 comments:

  1. And just how can Paul say no to that sweet face - when it's so obvious she wants a "pet" porker or two...hmmmm?

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  2. What a darlin' little gal! (Stop feeding her quick so she doesn't grow up, fall in love and leave home!)

    I feel the same way as you regarding carnival/amusement rides. Way too scary to think about one bolt not being forgotten during assembly. Maybe we get too wise as we age. I can remember lots and lots of carnivals and amusement park rides in my (dangerous) childhood, and I loved 'em!

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  3. and did you get a breeders name so you will know where to go buy Paul a piggy and tell him you are entering it in the Fair .... LOL.

    did you see week or so ago the ride that suddenly stopped and lots of children were hurt? I think it was the one with the swings that go out on chains, ride stopped and children were banging into one another, only ride I like are the Merry-go-rounds, somehow those just seem to say fair or boardwalk to me.

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  4. Sounds like you had fun! I am just like that with the rides - my kids stay off of them, too. Have a great weekend. :)

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  5. I don't blane you for not wanting Rhiannon to ride the amusement rides. Did you hear about the lady thrown out of the roller coaster ride at Six Flags Over Texas this past summer? She was killed and her family has over a million dollar law suit against Six Flags. Scary!!!

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  6. I love fair time! I only wish ours was more like a real country fair rather than a carnival with a petting zoo.

    I wanted to mention that my blog address has changed, so that the one in everybody's "Blogs I Follow" reader is outdated and not showing new posts! I've always enjoyed your comments so I hope you'll keep me up to date in your blog reader.

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  7. Well, I admit that we spend the whole week at our fair, but that's because we've been a part of the 4-H program since I was little. We spend almost all of our time in the livestock pavilion, except when my teen-aged daughter and I hang out "helping" at the rodeo so we can ogle the cowboys (shhh, don't tell my husband). But we don't do the rides and we only have 1 meal that is "fair food"...

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