Last Friday, I finally made it to the State Fair, and what fun I had with my daughter, Brittany and my favorite sister, Rosalind. (I can say that since she is my only sister!)
We had visited my entry in the Creative Arts Building, looked at the entries of my competition which were very good, looked a a few more Lego creations, visited the quilts, enjoyed the handmade dolls, and then headed out to the rest of the Fair. As you might expect, there were horses. Horses at the rodeo grounds, horses at the racetrack, and the police were on horses as well. Even the little half-pints were competing on stick horses in a barrel racing event.
Hoping to see a "Frizzle" chicken we headed to the chicken barn. The chickens were just arriving for the competition. Brittany raises chickens, so she kept correcting me when I called a "she" a "he"!
Not a frizzle in sight. Frizzles are not a breed of chicken, but rather "frizzled" feathers are a result of a mutant chicken gene, which can occur in many breeds. A frizzle's feathers curve outward instead of laying flat against the body, thus creating the furry, frizzled appearance. Many frizzles end up being show or exhibition birds because of their unique look. The most popular frizzled chicken is the Cochin, a variety of which is bred for its frizzled look, though roughly one in four chicks from frizzled parents will develop normal feathers.
But there were lots of other wonderful looking creatures.
I understand if you are not as enamored of chickens as I have become after eating wonderful eggs from my sister-in-laws "girls" and Brittany's, so I will stop with these few photos of chickens.
If you do not live in the west, you may not be aware that the little Jackalope is a fictional creature. Only those with taxidermy skills can raise jackalopes!
No state fair experience is complete without junk food and this year we let Brittany chose what variety of grease we would consume. It was mini donuts dipped in cinnamon sugar. Just right with fresh squeezed lemonade. We shared them with the volunteers at the quilt show being put on that day by the New Mexico Quilt Association. Watch for photos in an upcoming post.
And after an extended visit to the Native Arts Building, we finally made it to the Fine Arts building only to rush through it because it was getting late. And twelve folks were coming to my house for dinner! Rosalind bought a painting. Which delayed us even more, but the painting is the "vicarious pleasure" of this post. I get to look at it every time I visit her!
Isn't it gorgeous. Forgot to ask her the name of the artist, but I imagine she will let us know in the comments below.
The artist is Melissa Moloney. Folks will understand why I rarely allow myself to go to art shows and galleries. I MIGHT have been able to resist this purchase if Heather and Brittany hadn't been insisting that I'd regret not getting it. And it was quite a bargain.
ReplyDeleteBrittany has kindly agreed to take it when we "downsize" to the old folks home--but not for many years!