Good/interesting/random non-negative things from today:
- I've been spending a lot of time at the fair. It feels so much like home, which isn't as odd as it might sound given that I used to spend all week long there every year, camped out in a tent with my kids, with the goats, all trimmed up for the show. I used to clean up the showring with my herd....and then it wasn't a challenge anymore and it wasn't an official show, so I moved on to the Spokane Interstate fair. I have to say though, that the Interstate fair never felt homey the way this small one did, despite the MUCH better prize money. No non-goat showing friends were there to see me win, so the victories were hollow, meaningless. It's odd how something like that puts priorities into perspective.
- I got to check out all the poultry, which was really an eye opener. Things look and feel so much different in real life than they do in a catalog or a picture! What I really liked: the African geese, Aracauna chickens, Wyandotte chickens (all color patterns). The Silkies were cute, and the Cochins were OK....there was another breed, but I am not remembering it right now. I was surprised at how much expression the African geese had in their eyes, especially the gander. The Embdens, which I was very inclined to when reading the catalogs (possibly because of their blue eyes), didn't grab at my (hmmm...soul? heart? mind?) the way that the African geese did. That gander looked so intelligent and sensitive and observant!
- Rabbits: the rabbits are charming. I really wish that I weren't allergic to them! I can't even look at them for very long, let alone raise them.
- Sheep: All but two of the sheep are of the Suffolk breed. The other two are Katahdins. The owner of those two did not dock the tails. It made my heart smile to see sheep with the tails as they were born with. Some of the Suffolk's tails were docked SO close to the anal sphincter that prolapse seems a distinct concern. I wish the owners would learn to cope with natural tails.
- And of course, the goats! There are some pretty Saanens there, a really nice La Mancha doe that I've become fond of. She is large, solid black, and surveys the chaos around her with the calm that is characteristic of her breed. Someone muttered something about the owners clipping the ears off and I quickly righted that misconception (they are born with really small ears, just like people). They were surprised but relieved. ;-) I spent hours petting oats and talking to them. Goats make me feel sane again, calm, as though life is something I can deal with. I am still allergic to them, too....but cannot seem to stay away from them.
- Cattle: I don't relate to them very well. They look soft and velvety, but those wet, sloppy muzzles..... (shudder) Why can't they have lips like goats and sheep? I don't know why, but cattle just don't click with me. I tried anyhow, lol.
- The exhibits in the main exhibit building: I have got to enter stuff in the fair next year! Where has all the competition gone? Are they disgusted by the prize money, which is the same as it was over 15 years ago? At any rate, someone needs to raise the bar a little....it used to be competitive. Well, except for the goats, lol. Except for Shannon Lloyd and her huge, lovely Saanens, there wasn't much to compete against. She bred/breeds such beautiful goats.....
- There is no forestry/natural resources contest this year! Dang!
- Checked on my most recent fish sculpture at the Arts Alliance. It has just been bisque fired, and now I have to decide how to glaze it....using cone 6 glazes which are totally unfamiliar to me. Scary, but exciting, too.
- Neck was in serious discomfort, to the point where driving was becoming hazardous....i finally went to get help for it, got an anti-inflammatory shot.
- And, I picked up an interesting book arguing against the "blank slate" theory in the nature vs nurture debate.
- Am now headed off to the warm, relaxing shower and then to retire with the poultry catalog.....
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