State Fair and Sweatember

Other than two hot days at the end, this year's Oregon State Fair was blessed with moderate weather, which is a whole lot easier on the livestock that Rick is tasked with overseeing. I went with him on both Saturday nights, and we spent most of Labor Day there as well. That's when I finally got to walk through the Creative Living exhibition hall; I never did make it to the photography show. I had my share of favorite fair foods – raspberry milkshakes from the Oregon Dairy Women's stand, garlic and herb pretzels, and falafel with sides from the best of the three gyro stands. And for old college days' sake we stood outside the amphitheater (it was packed and the fire marshal wouldn't let more in) and listened to the tail end of Foreigner's farewell tour concert.

I'm aware that I've shared lots of photos from our State Fair over the years, so feel free to scan through quickly or not at all.

I am always fascinated by the pigs. There is so much intelligence in their eyes, and they are adorable when they sleep.

Caesar the "No Drama Llama" does this every day of the fair, no spitting. I talked to his owner, who said he has been easy-going from the git-go.

A few of the entries in the miniature cattle category:

I do love goats. My first was a Saanen, like these:

Another sleeping pig, and the ever-popular sow and piglets:

A stunning sunset to close out August:

A fancy drill team on their way to the warm-up arena:

Apparently these sea lions put on regular shows, but I only saw them doing photo opps. The handlers put the people in place, the sea lions promptly put their chins on heads or shoulders, the people were moved off to receive their photos, and the sea lions hammed it up for their fish treats. It was hilarious, and I could  have watched them for hours!

Catching a bit of the Foreigner concert (with a lot of others) outside of the amphitheater.

On our way back to Rick's vet truck, we caught a bit more music by the marching band The Beat Goes On:

And on the way out of the fairgrounds, I thought I saw fireworks in the sky, but as the lights changed, I realized it was a complex and amazing drone show. The legs of this horse moved in a galloping motion!

The following shots were from Monday,  the last day of the fair.

This is an entry in Decorated Cakes!

The only equine competition that I watched was the Draft Pulling Contest Monday afternoon. These horses were brought in just for this; they didn't compete in any of the other draft horse classes.

Unofficially, the end of the State Fair and the beginning of a new school year mark the transition from summer to fall, but no one told the weather. We just endured several more days of 90+ degree weather, and today was extremely smoky on top of the heat. I sure hope that's the last oven blast of the season; we could use some rain to grow grass and reduce our current 100% reliance on hay. But I am loathe to end this productive season in the garden; the tomatoes are really putting out now. I got enough this week to can seven pints (and green beans enough for four pints of dilly beans).

The big yellow tomatoes are called "Taxi;" that variety's a keeper!

That's it for now from . . .

Wrapped, Wrapping, Wrap

Well, August wrapped up before I managed a final blog post. The State Fair is wrapping up; tomorrow is the last day and I plan to go down in the morning with Rick (I'll do a post devoted to State Fair once it's over). My wrap (Elektra, above, at an earlier stage) has been getting the vast majority of my free time, but today I disciplined myself to do some much-needed cooking with garden produce, and prep jars to do some preserving of same.

Last Sunday Poppy and I headed out early for an agility match. I paused near the bottom of our hill to capture the morning mist and Mt. Hood, then drove toward and under some hot air balloons rising into the calm dawn sky. There was no good place to pull over, so I shot blind through the windshield to capture what I could:

Poppy's and my results were not quite so spectacular, but we did respectably, earning two qualifying scores and one first place in four attempts. By the end both my knees were screaming, though; it took 36 hours of anti-inflammatories to get comfortable again.

Bitsy, on the other hand, has gotten steadily better, and is walking without a limp again. Still, she and her mother are safer staying in the barn stall for now. There's nothing to eat out in the pasture anyway; the ewes tell me that loudly all day long. Today I put hay out for them, and later, the last of the bolting lettuce I pulled from the herb barrel.

Sisters Bernice and Bethany fought for a long time; hormones?

This week Snow Cone, one of my two Amber Stars and the last pullet to 'graduate,' started laying. Both she and Toffee Bits (the other Amber Star) have become quite tame, which I love:

I also got to go on another beach ride; woohoo! But that's a post for my Dances With Horses blog when I have time. 

That's it for now from . . .