Sunday, August 22, 2010

At the Fair


Quite a few of you guessed that I had been at a fair this weekend.  Our older son and his girlfriend flew in to Philadelphia from California and our younger son and his girlfriend drove with us to Pennsylvania to see my Dad and go to the Middletown Grange Fair in Bucks County, PA.  My parents were very active in the Grange for years, at various times they both served as the "Master" (the title for the President of the organization).  In fact, my mother was the first female master of our local Grange.  The Fair was a big part of my childhood and I have many fond memories of this summer tradition.


The screen shot at the top of this post is from the Carousel Cricut Lite cartridge.  I plan to use this cartridge and the Country Life cartridge (which arrived in the mail while I was away) to do some scrapbook pages about the Fair.  Tonight I will share a few more photos from our trip and tomorrow I should be back to the more usual "crafty" posts!


Livestock displays and judging are still a big part of the Fair.


In addition to the large cattle and horses, there are now many displays of chickens, goats, sheep, and rabbits.


I don't remember any alpacas at the Fair when I was a child but there were some there this year.


The Chicken Barbeque Dinners are always a highlight.  They are cooked in big racks over huge fires and are served with corn on the cob, tomatoes, cranberry sauce, potatoes and rolls - delicious!


There was not a Midway with games and there were no mechanical rides when I was a child but nowadays they add to the Fair excitement.


The garden vegetable exhibits are fun to see.  Entries are judged and there are ribbons and small cash prizes to be won.


I remember how difficult it was to find five tomatoes that "matched" to enter - I don't think we competed in this category every year.


I am sure the "vegetable sculpture" category did not exist when I was a child...


The display of quilts and other handwork and crafts is one of my favorite sections.


We met up with our nephew and his girlfriend in the evening and the younger crowd "did" the rides while my husband and I looked at exhibits.


The next day we had to take the girls to see a real covered bridge.  There are not very many left in Bucks County but my Dad took us to see one close to the fairgrounds.


I really like the rough lattice inside the bridge and I took several photos that I will use to make some digital background papers.


My Dad was glad to see everyone.  He has had a few health issues recently but I think he is looking great for nearly 86!  I am sure he was glad to get back to a normal routine after we left.


For those of you who guessed deep fried Oreos yesterday - you were right!  I have never had these and thought they sounded very odd but it was a bit like a donut hole with a chocolate center and too tasty for my own good!  I have to give a shout out to Yvette for her guess of "olliebollen" - we are very familiar with these on my husband's side of the family.  They are Dutch and these were a favorite treat his grandmother used to make.

The weekend was full of activities and long drives - we got home tonight quite exhausted. I am still having troubles with sciatica and have started physical therapy - I hope it will help get the pain under control ...  I have lots of crafty things to do!

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10 comments:

  1. We love the fairs as well. Our kids love that we try to get to each of the surrounding counties during the summer. It's a wonderful family tradition to pass on. I too am amazed at how the exhibition entries have changed over the years. Can't wait to see your fair layouts.

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  2. AAwww I was convinced they were Oliebollen hahaha :):) Never heard of deep fried oreos. But they do sound yummie :)

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  3. Great pics! It looks like you had a great time. It's nice that you could all get together.

    Carousel is the only Wal-Mart cart I have (so far) *wink* and I got it for the same reason. We go to fairs all the time & have attended them in all 88 counties in Ohio, so I have a lot of pages to make.

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  4. Such a wonderful weekend with awesome photographs to remember it all by. it's great to have had your family all together -- and I LOVE Fairs!

    thanks for sharing these terrific memories -- and rekindling ours from past County and State Fairs and Homecomings

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  5. Diane
    Thanks for the tour of the fair. It was great and I especially loved the covered bridge. They have always fascinated me even though I have never seen a real one. lol
    Myrna

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  6. I used to love fair time growing up. It always amazed me at how many different kinds of chickens there were and how some looked more like they had fur than feathers! Love the pics. Can't wait to see some of the layouts you produce.

    Hope you get your back pain under control soon. I can't imagine having constant pain.

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  7. Diane,
    Thanks so much for sharing your photos. They bring back wonderful memories for me. Getting together with family is such huge treat and you preserved these memories perfectly with your photos.
    DebbyS

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  8. Now I'm going to WHINE, Diane! Had I known you were at Middletown Grange Fair, I would have come to hunt you down, and drag you out to my very favorite paper store in Bucks County. I live just 5 miles from the Middletown Grange Fair, yup, in Bucks County, PA ... and my favorite oooh-la-la creative store is "Creative Inklings" in Peddler's Village. I would love to meet you someday, as you've provided me with SO MUCH creative inspirations through your blog.

    Your pix of the Grange do a nice job of telling the story of it, and your Dad looks SUPER for 86! Kisses to him for his past service to the Grange, and to you for keeping the fair alive in your support.

    Ellen
    CardMonkey

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  9. I know Bucks County! I grew up in Downingtown PA. My brother and sister still live there. Oh the bridge picture brings back memories. Thanks for sharing. I know about scrapple and shoofly pie but not deep fried Oreos. That must be something new.

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  10. It looks like you had a great time at the Fair. I've never had deep fried Orios, but if I ever come across them, I'll be sure to try them! I absolutely LOVE covered bridges. My husband and I plan out Covered Bridge Tours that we ride our bikes to. We've got one planned for mid-September in Lancaster, PA and have planned a route that will include 18 covered bridges. I have some amazing photos of past bridges we've visited, and can't wait to scrapbook them!

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