First was the Deschutes County Fair in nearby Redmond. There were exactly 777 entries in the food preservation competition, and probably about 300 or so were in my division. While I didn't score any first place ribbons (no doubt because I put down the wrong processing time on every. single. jar.), I got a couple of seconds and a couple of thirds.
My flowers, on the other hand, kicked butt. First place for the sunflower, woo hoo!
I had a petunia in too, but failed to snap a photo. Oh well. Here's my ribbon haul from Deschutes County and my payday (good thing I have other means of income):
Directly afterward was the Crook County Fair, and since it is the county where I actually live, I took the time to correct the processing times to what I had truly done, and was able to put in a salpiglossis flower, which had only bloomed a few days before the due date. I was rewarded thusly:
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| That's right - a judge's award for the salpiglossis! |
Once again, I forgot the petunia. Oh, well.
Here's the Crook County haul:
When I was a little girl, and my family lived in Michigan, we'd go to the UP State Fair every summer. I remember it as a magical time - pies, pigs, cows, chickens, and carnival rides! After leaving Michigan, and I guess after growing up, I never experienced that magic again - until now. For example, at the Deschutes County Fair, the blue ribbon for beer went to a senior citizens' home where beer making is an activity (as opposed to, say, shuffleboard):
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| Here is the activities director after learning of their blue ribbon! |
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| The first place beer |
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| Love the name! |
And while the Crook County Fair was much smaller and poorer (as befits the poorest county in Oregon, in which I think I live a pretty high life), there was this just outside the food preservation building:
Life really is good.
