Fair, II

When I was little, the county fair was all about the 4-H projects and living with the livestock during the first week. We saw some of that on Tuesday, and watching the pig judging brought me into the WayBack Machine for sure. Just looking at all those kids, filthy in their white jeans and button-down shirts (who? who had the bright idea to put farming kids in all white?) and passing the day sitting on their tack boxes, playing cards. Oh, gosh. Yes, I remember it quite clearly...I was thrilled that all four kids wanted to look at all the animals, and were so interested in the judging!

When I got older, in my teen years, the county fair was all about seeing, and being seen. You worked at the fair, because your friends did, and packs of girls roamed, pretending not to look at packs of boys, who roamed, pretending not to look at you. I'm exhausted just typing about it.

Now, as an adult, the county fair is all about Charlotte's Web. That is the experience I'm looking for when I go, and it always delivers. The quilts and flower arrangements; the art and fiber projects with the big ribbons (Best in Class is my favorite!); the jars of jam and fondant shaped into landscape scenes; the pig and puppy races, the amateur dance and song routines; I could just swoon!



And this whole day at the fair reminded me of something I had written on my other blog, so I am re-posting it here. It was originally written in March, 2006, but the story hasn't changed in the past 3 years, so here we go.





Tommy was asking me where chicken nuggets come from.

T: Where do these come from?
M: Chickens.
T: But, where do they come from?
M: They come from chickens.
T: What does that mean ~ chickens?
M: It means "chickens", like the big red hen in that song ~ bock bock.
T: How do the chickens grow them?
M: No, they come from chickens, on a farm. They used to be chickens. [If I could have brought myself to use the words, "We kill chickens", this would have been a much easier conversation.]
T: They grow on trees?
M: No! They really are chickens. Those nuggets used to be chickens! They are animals! Animals! From the farm!
T: [thoughtful] No. No, that doesn't make sense.

Fine. I remember when I first found out that food was animals, and I stopped eating meat for 6 years. When I was little I lived on a farm and belonged to 4-H but it was a disaster because I always got so attached to my animals. My dad finally put an end to the whole debacle the year I had to sell my lamb, Jesse, at the county fair auction, which ended with me crying so hard that my nose bled and I didn't sleep for 3 whole days. I still won't eat lamb. I don't care, y'all. It messed me up.

I'm mostly over it, but there are still some things I just won't eat ~ veal and lamb come to mind immediately, and I didn't eat any pork whatsoever until I was about 22. That's because of a pig named Moses. I went off all beef for 2 years after I met a cow named Mister Pibb. And, during one bleak period, I stopped eating chicken. That only lasted 3 months, but it was rough. I eat a metric ton of chicken per month, but one summer I was staying at my cousin's house. They lived on a farm in Santa Rosa, but it was way more "farm-y" than our farm. We kept chickens for eggs, goats as pets, and horses to ride. My cousin's family road horses, and collected eggs, but they also raised animals to eat. I mean, they would raise them, some guy would come out and slaughter them, right there in the yard. Weird.

So, they had this one chicken, he didn't have a name. (She? meh) That chicken loved me. Every day I would go out to their little pen and that chicken would perch on my arm while I took care of the chores. Then I'd sit and talk to it while carelessly sprinkling little corn and meal around and it was a nice way to spend some time, barefoot in the chicken yard, baking in the summer sun. My uncle (who was mean, I mean it, but we loved him to death) decided I needed to learn a lesson about getting too attached to farm animals. He thought my parents were soft on me when they didn't make me eat Jesse. I know. Anyway, he chopped my chicken's head off and made me pluck him. I cried the whole time.

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It seems to me that so many of my farming memories involve crying! Isn't that strange? I mean, considering how very much I want a wee little farm? Tommy and I went for a walk last night, and we were dream-dream-dreaming about what animals we would have on our farm ("Do you think we'll need a barn, Mommy?" and "Oh, yes! Definitely a barn!"). I guess it would be more of a 'gentleman's farm', because I can tell you right now that if I had been in charge of Jesse's fate, I'd now be the proud owner of the oldest living sheep on the planet.

Mia's Building

I took my two littles, plus two of their friends, to the fair yesterday. Jeebus save me. It was a blast, but was I tired? Why, yes, yes I was! And I was barely recovering from yesterday's debacle when I took this on, but I can be quite...ornery.

This was one of the first buildings we saw on our way in. It's not a new building, but that sign was definitely never there before. In case you can't make out the words, it reads "Food and Fiber Art". Are you kidding me? It might as well say, "Come On In, Mia".





We had been singing "going on the rides" songs all the way over. It was when we got there that Scotty was informed that he would not be allowed on the rides, because of his cast. I had a sneaking suspicion, only realized too late, because of an incident at a small carnival when Tommy had his cast. It was a cooler day than today, and we were able to skirt the issue with long sleeves. And some questionable parenting decisions. Today, we didn't have that option. But you'd have to be made of stone not to love this little guy.

Of course, you're never too young to learn that ice cream makes everything better. There is so much silly goodness at the county fair, that we had a great time even without the rides. The three Big Kids had unlimited rides, and we kept in constant contact and visual communication, but Scotty and I watched the puppies race, and the pets on a pirate ship show, and the music. Plus, the bigger kids took lots of breaks from the rides and we toured the fair as a large, loud, group of five for much of the time anyway.

Oh my goodness, it was too much fun, and I was truly taken aback at how wonderfully behaved each and every child was. There was one chancy moment when I put down my paw about not playing the game to win goldfish (!!!) but we quickly rebounded and had a super day. (Yes, that child's dad thanked me profusely. We really do have to stick together, folks!)

Over the River and Through the Woods

This is called an "S Hook" in crochetland, and it is an enormous hook. I don't think I know of any larger (you could google bing that to know for sure, but I've been doing this for almost 25 years, and I've never seen one larger than S ~ also known as Super Hook) but it's just the right size for using material I harvest from thrifted sheets to make 'rag rugs'.



I enjoy making these, once the fabric is ready to go. These 'balls' of fabric are left over from a couple of other rag rugs I made as gifts.

I took The Boys, and my nephew's 2 year-old, and my crazy mother, up to see my Grandma yesterday. It was a one-hour drive (each way) that felt like 2 hours going up and about 4 days coming home. And although I just don't get to see my gram often enough, and nothing could have kept me away, I will say that the day did not end...pretty. Voices were raised. Threats were issued. Crying ensued. But I wiped my tears and carried on! haha Just kididng! I didn't cry. Much.

The point to this story is not so much to highlight how quickly my parenting goes downhill under less than ideal circumstances, but more to get to the fact that I had to throw both kids into the tub that morning before heading out. You can't go to Great-Grandma's looking like that! You have to represent.

As they were getting out of the tub, I was reminded again of how we need a new bathmat. Since Gram now lives with the very aunt that taught me to crochet so long ago, I knew it was the perfect time to throw these ready-made fabric scraps into a bag so I could whip up a festive little mat for in front of the bath tub.

I think I'll also use a towel that has seen better days to line the back of the mat; terry is so very absorbent, I think it will be perfect for this new job. Besides, I think it's well-documented how much I just love to turn something into something else!

Convert

I had this tablecloth that was made of some kind of linen blend, and I although I have always loved the color and fabric, it had seen better days. I believe it was my mother's tablecloth, when she was newlywed (44 years ago!). I couldn't bear to just toss it, though it had some stains and tears and the lace along the edge was unsalvagable. I still used it though, because I have very low standards. haha Wish I were kidding.


Anyway, after I had made the shirt out of the bedsheet the other day, I had this idea to repurpose the ruined tablecloth into a matching skirt. I was able to avoid the marks and tears. (I started off using this tutorial for a simple elastic-waisted skirt. (Someday I will be brave enough to try a zipper!) But really, it turned out that the fabric didn't lend itself to the pattern (size-wise) and in the end, I made a much straighter ~ less a-line ~ kind of cut for the sides and it's working out splendidly.)

It turned out really cute, actually, and it makes quite a dashing outfit.

I showed it to Erik and he was quite pleased. "You should make me a t-shirt out of those curtains," he said, waving at the curtains hanging at the bedroom windows. "Why?" I asked, bewildered. "Oh, just so I can say I have a t-shirt made out of curtains!"

He was quite bemused when I giggled and told him that those curtains? Those curtains were already made out of an old bedspread!


Between the shirt that was a sheet, the skirt that was a tablecloth, and the curtains that were a bedspread, it's getting harder to defend myself against allegations that everything in my house used to be something else. : /

Timeout

My food scraps bin is on a timeout.

I was so excited to get the notification from our waste management company that they would start accepting food scraps, and paper products used with food, in the green recycling bin starting on June 1st.

A couple of weeks earlier, I started collecting the food scraps and dumping into the bin...then I couldn't put it out at the curb for a little bit. I have a worm bin, but they can only eat so much cast off, and you certainly can't put meat or mayo or a host of other things that, for reasons I cannot fathom, they are willing to take to the compost. I won't complain though, because our garbage output has declined from a 50 gallon bin once a week, to barely filling it in two weeks. Our 50 gallon recycling is always full, our 20 gallon green is now always full, and we're officially going to downsize to a 20 gallon garbage.

This makes me so happy!

What makes me very not happy is that my green bin, under the kitchen sink, is attracting ants. We're having a bit of an ant problem already, but this is ridiculous. I've had to put it on a timeout on the front porch.

Also, there's a definite...funk to the green bin these days. What is anybody doing about ants and stank, if I may ask?

Vassarette?

Tonight we had such a beautiful dinner! The summer season is really starting to roll (finally!) and even though my vegetable garden is woefully stunted from this crazy cold June, my mom lives only minutes away...but deep in a valley...and her warm days are routinely 20 degrees hotter than mine (cold days are much colder, too!). So, her veggies went in at the end of April (instead of the beginning of June *cough*) and they've benefited from some hot-hot-hot days!

(Don't worry about me though! I may be wrong, and you may find me in coming months bemoaning my horrible veggie production, but if past performance is any indicator I've got no reason to believe that my wee garden won't catch up in the next 5 or 6 weeks, and then produce well into fall...you'll find me canning tomatoes on Halloween, I'm hopeful!)

Speaking of which...I regrettably used the last jar of tomato sauce from last summer! Less unfortunately, it made a very tasty topping to the whole wheat penne pasta we had for dinner.

Now...grow please!




Speaking of Mom's garden, I got a big bag o' green and some more fresh eggs last night! My mom is a great harvester. A bag of greens from her is like looking for Easter Eggs...you just never know what little treasures you'll find. Here, I was excited to get the first of the green beans, more zucchini, and a very large, very disfigured cucumber (come on, tomatoes, once again I implore you to grow, as my very favorite summer salad is cucumber, tomato, and onion!). Oh, and look! A tiny green pepper! He's adorable! And what's this? Who are you, my friend?

Let's go in for closer inspection...an unexpected guest...?









Oh, of course! It's a tag. To a bra. What the what? That woman is crazy. How the tag to her bra ended up in a bag of vegetables...the mind boggles. Frankly, I'm eating them regardless, so I'm happy not to speculate.






I went ahead and started with the zucchini. I sliced it, drizzled olive oil over the top, and sprinkled it with paprika and tiny bit of black pepper. I roasted them in the oven at 415 degrees F. I had sliced them fairly thin, so I only let them cook for about 6 minutes. Then I sprinkled a bit of grated parmesan cheese for another minute or so.

(I added the parmesan because of the Italian tip on the dinner, but without the cheese, it's by far my favorite, most simple way of cooking asparagus, eggplant, and any kind of squash you're hankering for.)


It was yummy!

But my mom is crazy.

Wearing a Sheet

Just a few hours ago, this was a sheet! Now it's a very sweet peasant top. I used a thrifted $2.00 sheet and this tutorial and pattern (how did I find that? I honestly couldn't tell you! The Internets are so fascinating to me...clicking and sliding from place to place until you land on the most extraordinary things. It will never cease to amaze me how much people are willing to share!).



I have a pattern for this blouse now, which took some time to make tonight, and with some practice, I do believe this could become a 60 minute shirt.

I'm a very novice sewer, and this was extremely easy. One thing I learned making this (and I learn something every time I make anything) is to use a longer stitch setting. I couldn't get the semi-rounded neckline to turn in properly before I switched the stitch setting. Then it went together like bread and butter! It just 'eased' together, instead of going off kilter.

I used the same technique for the hem, though it was straight enough not to worry about it, and also for this elastic I put in under the bustline.

I am considering making several of these shirts as part of my 'uniform' for the next school year. I like having a simple skirt and shirt set, in a variety of fabrics, that I can put on with no thought at all. Comfort is king for a teacher, and streamlined is key for a mom, so this is what it has come to.

I'll wear this shirt a few times in the next month (and who are we kidding? How about if I wear it every day for a week?) and if it's everything I hope it is, I'll make 5 or 6 using "real" fabric. Sometimes I read about people using 'muslin' to make prototype garments, but I decided to use a sheet because it's so frugal, and because it's more like the fabric I'll eventually use and that means I can get a better feel for the wear and quality I'll be looking forward to.