Sights and Happenings at the State Fair

The fair opened on Wednesday, and we decided to go down that afternoon. So, Mom and the two of us packed a little cooler and headed out. I was able to get most of the lawn mowing done before leaving and finished what was left in the evening, so I didn't even have to worry about that!

Wednesday was (according to the weather stations) the coolest day in the near future with a high of only 86'F. Some friends of ours called to see if we would meet them down at the DiSalle Building. Great! That is where all of the "Creative Arts" are displayed --- just the place we wanted to go. Besides, the building had air conditioning --- of a sort. We arrived and were directed along the parking lot by what must have been almost every State Highway Patrolman in the area. We parked pretty far out in the boon-docks, so it was a nice hike to the fair entrance!

We hadn't been to the State Fair since 2003, so we didn't really know what to expect. It seemed to us that the entries were really down low, but that would make sense considering the lack of entries at the town fairs and county fairs around here. Dad won second and third place in the woodcarving category! I'm so happy for him. We found his with no problem, but the felting was harder to find. It was in the display cases in the second room. Mom found them, and guess what?! They won first and second place in the needle-felting category and Best of show for all of felting! That is pretty exciting. I can hardly wait to pick them up. Pictures of them to come in a later entry. :)



We walked through a bunch of the other buildings, too. There were a lot of cows --- which I love! Amazingly, all of the sheep looked alike?! One of the "famous" attractions that is a recurring exhibit is a full-size cow carved out of butter (see picture). Mt. Vernon Naz College recycles the butter as fuel in some of their vehicles. Well, that's all for now. More coming soon.

We finally saw 'Gone with the Wind'!

This was the weekend that CAPA in Columbus showed Gone with the Wind. We've been really looking forward to this one, and I have been reading the book --- trying to get it finished before going to see the picture. Well, I managed to read the last page just nineteen hours before the curtain went up. Nothing like making it in the nick of time, right?

I'm certainly glad that I read the book, as it has been years since I've seen the whole movie. The book is definitely better than the film and really goes a long way into enhancing the viewing. Rhett is a nicer character and Scarlett is different in the book. Particularly during the last quarter of the story. Clark Gable is great! Of course, he's always great. :)

The audience was interesting. They actually laughed their way through the whole film. They laughed when Scarlett receives the letter saying Charlie Hamilton died. They laughed when Scarlett and Ashley had their love scene. They laughed every time anybody had a drink. They laughed at almost every line delivered by Clark Gable. They even laughed when Scarlett is crying after Frank Kennedy's funeral and says that she's afraid of going to Hell. When intermission time came, about half of the theater got up the minute "I'll never be hungry again" was out of Scarlett's mouth, so that you couldn't see the ending shot. Then again, at the end of the film, the minute "Tomorrow is another day" was out of her mouth they were up and running for the door. You couldn't even see the final shot of Scarlett at Tara, read "the end" on the screen or hear the final music. Society today is just quite rude.

On the way home we got stuck in a huge rain storm. The roads in Columbus couldn't drain and the sewers were backing up. We actually had to pull over to the side of the highway twice. God was really protecting us though, and we all made it home without mishap. Once we got about ten miles from our exit, the rain pretty much cleared, but boy! was that a downpour.

Mom and Elizabeth's computers both had problems this morning, so they took them into the shop. Poor little things. Looks like the power supplies may be gone on both of them, but we'll see what the diagnostics turn up.

The State Fair opens tomorrow! We're not sure when we're going to go down, though it will most likely be on the weekend --- unless the weather is nicer on another day. It seems that they have a Civil War encampment this year, not to mention a 500lb pig and piglets made out of chocolate!

Hotter than Florida without Air-Conditioning

It's official. Apparently, Ohio's weather (and that of the mid-West) hit the National News. We're beating out records for heat. Toledo actually measured 100'F the other day which gives them a new all-time high! Two days ago our thermometer outside of the kitchen window went over the max of 125'F. It's so hot that weather advisories are out, and even people who like Summer are wearing out.

The power companies have been doing rolling black-outs and rolling brown-outs. From Mansfield down to Loudonville lost their power completely yesterday, and it's not supposed to come back on until some time today. We put our AC window units in four or five days ago, so it's been nice to sit up in the TV room all cooled off. It made it up to eighty-nine degrees inside the house the other day.

Our Gramma called yesterday to see how we were doing. She suggested that we come down to visit her just to cool off! So, we're headed to FLA next month. Well, not for that reason . . . but it will be nice all the same.

Only three weeks to go until the National Stamp Show. I finally finished the list of my stamp collection, so I'm almost all ready to go. I can barely wait, too!

Well, I'm just too hot to go one writing, and I've got some laundry to do, so I'll be back later!

State Fair Entries are In!!

We took our entries down to the State Fair on Sunday. It was a fun day, as we also went to the Ohio Theater to see The Sound of Music. I like that movie, but I always forget just how nice it is. It was huge on the big screen, too! The puppet show part was one of my favorites . . . as always. This weekend we get to see Gone with the Wind. Which reminds me that I need to finish the book. I'm almost done, and it would be so nice to have finished before we see the movie.

Dad made some bases for the felted dolls that I entered. Here are the Pierrette and Pierrot dolls on their base. Dad put pins in the bottom of the base with their sharp ends sticking up. The feet of the dolls are then stuck through the pins. Pierrette had to have a little rod put up her back as well, as she is so thin. Her weight isn't enough to hold her steady. "Pat and Mike" is the other doll that's going in, so he's on a little square base and ready to go!

The Fair doesn't open until next Wednesday, so I'll post more pics then!

The Swallows are Back!

Joy, joy, joy! The swallows finally came back today. We always have lots of barn swallows, and they are my absolutely favorite birds. They are so beautiful and fluid in motion --- and so tiny. Only two have been around all Summer, which was sad as there were twenty-two last year. I was so happy, though, because there were twelve out there today! They stay all around the mower and just swoop down at all of the bugs. They make the softest chirping noises as the fly around you. I actually stopped the mower and just sat there listening to them. I didn't actually take these pictures, but these look just like my little friends.

Today was a cool day in the middle of a bunch of scorchers, so I was out mowing this morning (that's when I was with my swallow babes). Our neighbors are on vacation, so I did their lawn as well. They have a little over an acre (which is half of what we've got), and it was funny to mow, since our tractor is a bit over-kill for their yard. They have a lot of really gorgeous trees though!

It's almost time to take entries down to the State Fair! We're going down on Sunday, and I can hardly wait. Dad is working on making some wooden bases for the dolls that I'm entering. They are going to look cool. Dad is entering two wood carvings that he has made. It is the big fish and a frog that is sitting with some mushrooms. Both quite beautiful! Of course, I'm a little biased.

June rain brings . . . July weeds???

We've had a very nice and rainy year. This is great after the last several very dry years that we've had, but it means that we didn't have any chance to work outside before Summer arrived. That also means that the weeds are growing like . . . weeds! Mom and I are really trying to get things nice as far as our landscaping goes. After not being able to do any yard work last year it is all looking pretty scrubby and all around "ugh". Over the past few days I've been spending some time pulling thistles and crab grass --- not to mention creeping ground ivy.

Yesterday, I weeded some more of the area out the back door. I was able to put some rocks and flowers in there today, and it's looking pretty cute. I was also able to go on a sort of thistle patrol in the big garden. Wow! Those things are sure prolific. It looks like the "Guacamole" hosta is finally taking though. It's huge and beautiful all of a sudden.

We all spent part of the afternoon washing the cars yesterday. That was really fun. We got to play in the hose and get ourselves all wet, too! The two cars weren't hard at all, but the pickup truck was a bit more tricky. Elizabeth got up on a step ladder to wash the roof.

Only one week until we go down to take our entries into the State Fair!! I can't wait. This should be lots of fun. We're also going to see The Sound of Music on the same day. It's the first of this year's CAPA films that we're going to, so that should make for a fun day. More later.

'On this day of Independence, on this Independence Day!'

Another 4th of July has come . . . and gone. This year we celebrated with Buddy and Kay and Kay's family. Buddy and Kay are having a pretty busy Summer, so between their schedule and ours over the next six weeks it looked like we wouldn't be able to get together. So, a holiday came just in handy! We went over there about noon, and figured to stay a few hours. Guess what?! We ended up staying eight hours.

Mom and Kay worked with some of Kay's brothers and sisters on their family tree. Dad went fishing in the pond. Lizzy and I played music and sang with Buddy. It was really fun, as we sang through tons of the old songs that he has written and a bunch of new ones. We even sang through When Dragons' Hearts Were Good --- that's the song that convinced the two of us that Buddy was really great. It's also the first song that we ever heard him perform.

Buddy pulled out his whips and tomahawks later in the afternoon --- by this time all the family had left. He's got targets set up on the edge of the woods for them, so he taught Pop how to crack a whip. Buddy even snuffed out a candle for us! Elizabeth has always wanted to throw a tomahawk. She's great at it! She took to it like a fish takes to water. It was pretty cool. She could hit about every four out of five throws.

We watched a show with Buddy that he's working on. Really cool. And we all had dinner together! All in all, it was the best 4th of July ever.