A Day at the Fair

This post was written on Friday, about a trip to the State Fair on Wednesday. After about 7 hours walking around and eating, and looking and grinning, I was way too tired to post when I got home. And Thursday was about work and getting my joints to move *G*. So I wrote it on
Friday and then had an incredibly hard time getting the pics to load and just stuck it in the draft folder. So here I am again and I'll try to get this up.

So Wednesday was the day! I was so excited that I had a hard time getting to sleep Tuesday night.

Wednesday morning, though, was a different proposition. I spent much time in eMail and just piddling around the house. I had made myself a promise, that no matter what, I wouldn't hurry. This was simply going to be a fun day. No chores, no nothing responsible.

And it was!

I had sooooooooooo much fun at the Fair but oh my, I surely paid for it in my hip joints and legs. This office worker body hadn't walked that much in a long time. It was so worth it though! I LOVE going to the fair and have only missed one I've gone to every fair but one since I was in the 7th grade, and in my eyes, every one of them has been wonderful.

It was really windy but not uncomfortable. I thought of Laura, and took a picture so she can see the wind.

As soon as I cleared the gate I saw CORN DOGS. Must have one. So munching along with the appropriate snack, I started seeing all the amazing things. Signed up to win an amazing number of giant screen tvs, new roofs, siding, trips, $$$, sewing machines. If you could sign up for it, I did!

Sat in numerous brand new cars, ranging from little compacts to Hummers and beyond. Probably the only time I will sit in a Hummer. There were folks looking at it and I invited them to go riding with me. Hahah a couple of them played along although we didn't quite agree as to where we were going. Finally, with a big sigh I said "OK fine..you drive!" and got out. We all had a big laugh. The guy beside me said "That's what my wife says and then I know I'm in trouble!"

Visited cows and horses and goats and sheep and stayed for quite awhile in the AGtropolis building watching chicks hatch and bunnies sleep. They have this big pile of dirt, rock etc in the middle of the building and there are sheep and goats in there. Last year, I laughed out loud watching the goats play King of the Hill, but this year they were all having a nap. :-( There was supposed to be a spinning demo but nobody came. That's what happened last year too. The first one is scheduled for 4:30 and I'm thinking that maybe it's hard for them to get from work in time to make it. I did get to see and touch some fleece; a 4H fleece that got a blue ribbon. The red ribbon winner was really dirty and I so wanted to take a hunk of it home and wash it, just to see what that would be like. But probably stealing wouldn't be a good thing.

I took a break with a gyro and listened to a very good string quartet play everything from pop stuff to classical. By the time they finished, I was rested enough and refueled so off I went to see other sights.

In one building there were some lacemakers and basket makers demonstrating their craft. The basket lady was making a basket of pine needles...well the top part was pine needles and the bottom part was a gourd. Way cool! She was talking to someone who'd stopped by and actually knew about basket making and it was fun to listen to them discuss technique and such.

The lace makers were making bobbin lace. OMG I'd heard of it but never seen it done. Now that would cause me to pull out every hair on my head! A bazillion bobbins with really thin sewing type thread. She said "Well I have a pattern" and showed it to me. Hmmm lots of dots. A few of them were red. Yeah...I can sure see what to do. NOT! I visited with her for quite awhile, and all the time she kept moving those bobbins...over and over and under. Occasionally she would move one of the pins that held the completed part. I'm thinking that I ever make lace it will be of the knitted variety. What's amazing to me is that long ago, if you had lace, this is how it was made. Geez, I bet it was only for the rich and famous!

I just love listening to people talk about their passions. It's such fun to watch their eyes light up, and the smiles on their faces.

Next stop was at the wine makers area (vintners?). There are a number of winerys here in the state which I find odd. I think of us as wheat. But these people surely proved me wrong. For $1 you can sample a wine. Supposedly an ounce but I know what an ounce looks like and these samples were a lot bigger than that. And yummy! I know zip about wines and sometimes I have some that does absolutely nothing for me. But luckily, all the ones I tried were quite good. Must-buy-wine. I circled the names of the ones I tried and hopefully I can find some of them, if not here in town, at least in the next town over. Our liquor stores aren't too inspiring. This area had a lot of folks stopping by, and since everyone was taking their time, a lot of chatting with strangers was done. I found myself really wanting to ask "Do you knit?" but I refrained. *G*

Then it was off to tour the mobile homes. I have always wanted to live in one! Weird, eh? And perhaps not the best choice for Tornado Alley. But I am fascinated by their use of space.

Unfortunately the wind kept me from riding rides. Well, the two of those I wanted. One I guess really isn't a ride. Just a bunch of little seats that are on a cable and they take you for a nice ride up high above everything. And the 'boat'. I love feeling like I am flying. And the needle was also closed. It's not a scary ride, just a ride up a high needle and it goes around. What was hysterical to me was that it's wind powered. I guess sometimes too much power is a bad thing! I did ride the ferris wheel.

And then it was time for a funnel cake and some people watching. I'm not sure which was best.

And after lots of smiling and getting all excited and walking and walking and walking I came home. Almost 7 hours of fun was over. But there are, of course, souveniers. Lots of 'project bags' thanks to siding contractors, the state of Oklahoma, the AFL-CIO and others.

Yesterday at work I spent much time groaning quietly as I asked my legs to move :-) Thoughts of going to quilt group segued into a better idea. Quality time lying across the bed giggling at My Name Is Earl. I did stay awake for CSI but it made no sense to me and I was asleep before it was over.

Today I am moving much better! And hey...it's almost the weekend! Yay!

Hope your day is going well, and that fun things are coming your way.