At the Fair

Judging at local fairs is one of the rites of summer for me.  I love seeing the baking, sewing, crocheting, quilting and photography that so many people have done over the year.   I admire the (mostly) seniors who are still showing their projects and volunteering to see that the bench shows are held.   And I applaud the young men and women that are becoming involved in their communities in this way too.

My mom always encouraged us to exhibit things in the local fair and our years in the local 4-H clubs helped too.  My still packs up the car with all kinds of baking, canning, handiwork and garden samples to enter.  She amazes me!  And now we often meet at other fairs and judge at opposite ends of the hall.  Important note to self:  I must take a picture of the two of us together next summer!

Let me show you some of what I've seen at fairs this summer!

There's always great baking.

This painting is really beautiful.

In the "All Things Christmas" section, this tiny creche' with molded figures

was also awarded the best of section ribbon. 

Great photographs are some of my favourite exhibits.

And then there are the quilts - 

of all sizes -

from baby crib

to king size-

in every pattern you can imagine!

The detail on needlepoint makes for exquisite designs.

There are beautiful flowers, vegetables and fruits 

in the horticulture section to admire too.

And in this town, outdoor gardens and yards 

are judged as well.  The winning yard had a beautiful 

outdoor fireplace and living area - it looked so inviting!

So there you have a little walk through a day at the fair.  If your community has one, I highly recommend a visit to check it out and then encourage you to participate next year.  

Five on Friday

1.

“Every time you are tempted to react in the same old way, ask if you want to be a prisoner of the past or a pioneer of the future. ”

Deepak K. Chopra (born 1946); physician, writer

2.  There's a little quilt store in the village where one of our children lives and the little ones love to pop in with me and see what's new.  Today they had some gorgeous fabrics on sale for $5 per metre and some beautiful pink and brown prints that two of us fell in love with!  I love that this small  community has a great local business like this one!

3.  Costco on Friday afternoon at 4 p.m.??  Nuts!  You couldn't even navigate the main aisles with a cart but luckily there were no lineups in the checkout area.  

4.  I judged at a local fair today and enjoyed seeing all the beautiful things that people make and display.  There were 10 kinds of dilled vegetables (including radish pods which I've never seen before!) and 10 kinds of jam - lots of taste testing.  The best entry, in my opinion, was a jar of locally grown Evans cherry pie filling.  It was just perfect in every way!  It's inspiring to spend a few hours doing this.  

5.  We are so excited to welcome Malachi John Green to our family!  He was born early Friday morning and weighed 6 lbs. 7 ozs. .  I'm going next week to help and be with Samuel - but this little one decided to come early.  Mom and babe are both doing fine.  We now have 4 granddaughters and 4 grandsons :)

Fair Judging

There were lots of fruit, vegetable and flower entries at a county fair where I judged today. It's always so nice to see the best examples displayed beautifully.


And the handicrafts that were shown were exquisite. The third quilt from the right was given a "best of show" ribbon. I could have taken it home with me - it was exactly the colors I love! My area of responsibility was the junior crafts section. I only judge a couple of fairs each year but I really do enjoy it. There are so many talented artisans and dedicated producers creating beautiful things out there!


This set was my favourite of all the paintings. Again the colors are so beautiful and the paint had lovely dimensions that added incredible texture to the piece. I'd love to hang these in my home every spring!!

I'm always inspired when I spend a day looking at other's projects!