Sometimes it's Fair!

Monday my friend Sally and I headed to the Kansas State Fair. It is held in the city where my friend Kathy lives. Although I invited her to come, Kathy had an appointment so she could not join us. It's probably a good thing she didn't, because we didn't see much of the fair.


I mentioned to Sally on the way that the main thing I loved about Hutchinson was seeing these glorious grain elevators as you enter the city from the south.


Although the city seems to have grown up around the elevators in the last few years, there is no getting around the fact,


that one of these elevators is the longest in the world.


Here you can see about half its length. It is a full mile long and double wide.


To me, this is a sight to behold.


Once we got to the fair, found a place to park, and worked our way onto the grounds, one of the things I wanted to see was the sheep shearing. However, we parked at the opposite end to the sheep, and Sally wanted to see the judging of the food. That's Sally in the red pants and white blouse. Even now, she was beginning to tire and this was our first stop along the way.



As I took pictures of the pies and cakes, Sally scrambled for a seat, which is where she sat the rest of the time we were in the building.


Some of these cases were fuller than others.


It appears there were very few "extra special" cookies.


Next, I took in the quilts. Some were traditional,




and one looked like it was made with Bleubeard in mind.


I liked these pieced quilts.


While looking at the pieced quilts, I signaled one woman to go ahead of me because I wanted to take a photo of the owl quilt. She told me to take as many photos as I wanted, because she was the owner. We struck up a conversation and I asked to take her photo with her quilt. Her name is Sharon Smith, she lives in Wichita, but when I asked if she had a blog or web site, she said she didn't use the internet. I told her she should have a site, because her quilt was wonderful.


This was an example of mixed media,


as was this beautiful purse, which I thought should have won a ribbon.


In fact, several of the the items I liked didn't win ribbons.


I did like the blue ribbon winner in this crochet category.


Not many winners on this board.


Even duct tape had its own category.


Stuffed animals


and dolls drew crowds.


I really liked the Halloween wall hanging. I have no idea what the category was.


Working my way back to the food section,


I was taken by all the color on this wall.


Of course, I was surprised there were not more entries.




Although this wall made a lovely photo, there were simply too many empty slots along the wall.


At this point, Sally was ready to go home, so we headed back toward the car, this time past the vendors. I couldn't resist taking a photo of these rocking animals.


Since I wasn't going to get to see the sheep shearing (we were still on the wrong side of the fairgrounds for that event), I decided to stop to see the butter sculpture, since there were plenty of places for Sally to sit. The problem with this sculpture was, it was melting due to the excessive heat. Apparently, it was not refrigerated like the butter sculptures have been in past years. If you want to see a photo of me, I'm in the exact center of the above photo. I'm the short one whose face you can't see, only the hot pink hat I was wearing and my curly bangs that hang down below the hat brim.

I have to admit it wasn't much of a fair, mostly because Sally got tired so very quickly. I had no idea she couldn't walk for even a few blocks without getting so tired and out of breath. Toward the end of the walk back to the car, she had to stop every 10 feet or so, lean against something, or find a place to sit. In fact, several people said they thought she needed medical attention. In the end, she actually gave up and asked me to bring the car around to her. I thought she was going to collapse right then and there. But once in the car, her spirits picked up because she could sit and relax in the AC. And since we had not eaten,

we stopped at Carriage Crossing in Yoder, KS where my friend Kathy always gets those wonderful cinnamon rolls. The only problem was, there were no vegetarian dinners. So I gave in, and had a fresh baked catfish with baked beans and a homemade roll. I forgot to take a photo of my meal because I was too busy eating and de-stressing.


Of course, after we ate, Sally headed for the car, while I paid the bill and stopped to take


a few photos in the gift shop.

I realize it wasn't the fairest day, but I learned if I want to see the Fair, I have to do it by myself, and at my pace. I hope you have a better than fair day today. In fact, I hope you have a super day.