County fair day
Aug. 15th, 2009 08:52 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
altivoWent over to Belvidere for the Boone County Fair this morning, got there early enough that the bible-thumpers, politicians, and chiropracters were not in their booths yet so we zipped through the "commercial" buildings without being pressured, accosted, and delayed.
Horse show at that fair has expanded tremendously in recent years. They put up two new barns for ponies, freeing up space in the main horse barn for more draft horses, but that wasn't enough. Now they have a temporary tent (huge) for more draft horses and another for more ponies. Haflingers were competing in the pony hitch classes, which was also a new development though I think quite appropriate. We watched one class that they were calling a "Jack Benny" hitch, but I'm not sure what that means and I haven't looked it up yet. They were carts, usually for two people, drawn by a single horse. Most were two wheelers, but a couple had four wheels. A Welsh pony took the blue, but Haflingers got most of the other ribbons.
The Clydesdales were lovely, as always. Tall and sweet tempered, oh so handsome. *preens*
The needlework exhibits were about twice as large as the ones last week at McHenry. We had a long talk with one of the assistants in the department. She said she didn't know where to get yarn that wasn't acrylic, so we gave her a dozen possibilities. They had four entries in a class for handkerchieves with tatted edges. Several other tatted pieces as well. I haven't seen that much tatting in one place in probably 50 years. Lots of quilts, but I was disappointed that most of them had not been quilted by the entrants, but rather sent to a commercial quilting shop for the quilting. This is permitted and there is a separate category for it, but to me it defeats the purpose of the competition.
Stopped for lunch on the way home at the cafe on US 20 in Garden Prairie. We realized as we were sitting there that the last time we ate at the place was on the way to the Boone County Fair last year. They closed down a week later, and have only reopened under new ownership quite recently. Different menu, slightly higher prices, but the same friendly place. It's like the Chatterbox Cafe on Prairie Home Companion, I'd say. One of the older waitresses recognized us and came over to say she was glad to see us, and of course we told her we had missed the place, which was true.
After we got home, Gary finally managed to get hold of our hay supplier. We've bought almost all our hay from the same guy for ten years. Suddenly this summer he just wasn't returning our calls. Now he tells us he sold his haying equipment to a neighbor. Why the heck didn't he respond with that information six weeks ago. Now we are going to have to scrounge to find the 650 more bales we need for the winter, when it's already late in the season. Grrr. All he had to do was tell us the truth back in June. We wouldn't have held it against him. Now we do have reason to be grumpy with him.
The Boone County Fair is huge, and my feet are sore. Tomorrow, the Sycamore Steam Show & Threshing Bee. See you there!
Horse show at that fair has expanded tremendously in recent years. They put up two new barns for ponies, freeing up space in the main horse barn for more draft horses, but that wasn't enough. Now they have a temporary tent (huge) for more draft horses and another for more ponies. Haflingers were competing in the pony hitch classes, which was also a new development though I think quite appropriate. We watched one class that they were calling a "Jack Benny" hitch, but I'm not sure what that means and I haven't looked it up yet. They were carts, usually for two people, drawn by a single horse. Most were two wheelers, but a couple had four wheels. A Welsh pony took the blue, but Haflingers got most of the other ribbons.
The Clydesdales were lovely, as always. Tall and sweet tempered, oh so handsome. *preens*
The needlework exhibits were about twice as large as the ones last week at McHenry. We had a long talk with one of the assistants in the department. She said she didn't know where to get yarn that wasn't acrylic, so we gave her a dozen possibilities. They had four entries in a class for handkerchieves with tatted edges. Several other tatted pieces as well. I haven't seen that much tatting in one place in probably 50 years. Lots of quilts, but I was disappointed that most of them had not been quilted by the entrants, but rather sent to a commercial quilting shop for the quilting. This is permitted and there is a separate category for it, but to me it defeats the purpose of the competition.
Stopped for lunch on the way home at the cafe on US 20 in Garden Prairie. We realized as we were sitting there that the last time we ate at the place was on the way to the Boone County Fair last year. They closed down a week later, and have only reopened under new ownership quite recently. Different menu, slightly higher prices, but the same friendly place. It's like the Chatterbox Cafe on Prairie Home Companion, I'd say. One of the older waitresses recognized us and came over to say she was glad to see us, and of course we told her we had missed the place, which was true.
After we got home, Gary finally managed to get hold of our hay supplier. We've bought almost all our hay from the same guy for ten years. Suddenly this summer he just wasn't returning our calls. Now he tells us he sold his haying equipment to a neighbor. Why the heck didn't he respond with that information six weeks ago. Now we are going to have to scrounge to find the 650 more bales we need for the winter, when it's already late in the season. Grrr. All he had to do was tell us the truth back in June. We wouldn't have held it against him. Now we do have reason to be grumpy with him.
The Boone County Fair is huge, and my feet are sore. Tomorrow, the Sycamore Steam Show & Threshing Bee. See you there!
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no subject
Date: 2009-08-16 03:16 am (UTC)The meet I was at the last two days had a vendor you couldn't pass without being accosted by his sales pitch. Even if you pointed out to him you talked earlier.
Hay. Too bad our farms are 80 miles apart.
no subject
Date: 2009-08-16 10:07 am (UTC)What I dislike at the fairs is the people from the lunatic fringes, of which we seem to get a disproportionate number. The lady who was selling "selectively censored" books, for instance. She actually called them that. The slimy legislators and congress-critters, the guy with the "magic gadget" that will make your car get 80 miles per gallon on ordinary fuel, the hordes of booths with the evangelical slogans and bible tracts. Then there are always the ones demonstrating kitchen gadgetry that slices, dices, purees, grates, and will be forgotten a week later because it really doesn't do any of those things well.
no subject
Date: 2009-08-16 07:52 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-08-16 10:14 am (UTC)Even Cook County (Chicago) has a county fair, but of course there's very little real agriculture left in it. Instead it's all loud rock music acts and demolition derbies (ugh.) There's a certain simple pleasure in contemplating the entries for the tallest sunflower or the biggest pumpkin. Horses seem to be enjoying a comeback around here. They are everywhere you go, even though this is not a rural enough area to have a large Amish or Mennonite population.
no subject
Date: 2009-08-16 03:57 pm (UTC)Besides, I have no working transportation of my own so I can't really go anywhere that is not in walking distance or accessible by public transit.
no subject
Date: 2009-08-16 10:21 am (UTC)In Michigan we used to get lots of entries in the costume classes. Women dressed up and riding side saddle, for instance, or native American costume and riding. The Arabian horse people did fantastic fairy tale get ups.
no subject
Date: 2009-08-17 09:56 am (UTC)I wouldn't mind having seen the horsies...although I have to be careful of you long noses ;)
no subject
Date: 2009-08-17 02:46 pm (UTC)