Friday, August 22, 2014

Had to go to Coupeville today, and the Navy was doing touch-and-goes at the OLF field. These are the EA-18G Growlers - and they are LOUD! Not so great for the folks who live near the field, but it is awesome to watch them. The field is just the length of the aircraft carriers, and they practice touching down, and immediately lift off again. The cloud of smoke shows where the wheels touched, and they are already lifting.
SATURDAY, AUGUST 16, 2014
 Cory was invited to Cara's bachelorette party, but everyone had to wear a dress. The uglier the better. He and his friend George scoured the thrift stores for just the right dresses, and this is what he came up with. I think he wears it quite well, and the chest hair only adds to the mystique.
We had fun dolling him up...
FRIDAY, AUGUST 15, 2014
 We had our Book Club picnic at the Volunteer Gardens in Mount Vernon. Madelyn lives near there and volunteers, so she was able to reserve the picnic pavilion, where we had a great pot luck spread!

 Lots of entertainment - it was a rare event with all of the members present, but also sad, as Madelyn is resigning after 25 years. She lives 1 1/2 hours away from the rest of us, so it is a long drive, especially during the dark months. We will miss her, but she might SKYPE with us, and hopefully will host future picnics!
 The garden had lots to see, including some great fruit tree espaliers,
and a tree frog in the carnivorous plants garden.

Saturday, August 9, 2014

I know this is a very dark photo, but I was too lazy to haul my tripod out to see the "Super Moon" rising. Maybe I'll try again tomorrow and figure out the correct exposures and use the tripod.

Regardless of the photo quality, it is an amazing sight to watch the full moon rise.
OK - I tried a view out of my window - I love the light and shadows on the steel roof...

Friday, August 8, 2014
Cara's wedding shower!
 Cara's unwrapping the gift I made for her and Stephen - a piece of driftwood with a little stone collage, all collected from the beach where they had their first date.

 Sharon, Cara's mom. Lots of funny stories going around!
Cara and her niece.


Monday, August 4, 2014

 OK - so here is all of the Super 17 entries. I got 11 blues, and 6 reds. Since I had more than one entry for several of the catagories, I had to choose which one I wanted to be my S17. For 3 of the catagories, my choice got red ribbons, and the ones I didn't choose got blues. So I COULD have had 14 blues, if only I had chosen more wisely.

Here are photos of each - the only one I don't have a photo of is the Fair Logo Contest, because they keep the Logo entries, and choose one of them for next year's Fair. My entry got a red ribbon.
 Arts and Crafts
 Baked Goods
 Fiber Art
 Fruit (blackberries don't last long in 80 degree temps!)
 Herbs
 Needlework
 Photography
 Food Preservation
 Quilting
 Sewing
 Vegetables
Wine

Sorry for the sideways photos, but Blogspot doesn't have a way to rotate them. Sigh. You'll just have to turn your head.
 Beer
 Educational Display
 Floral (Again, they don't last very well)
Fine Art
 The kids loved the bubble machine!


They also loved the hands-on demonstrations with Danielle!
 Well, here I am with all of my Fair entries - 51 entries, in total. Just lookit all those blue ribbons!! And the big fluffy ones are 'Merit', which is above a blue. Apollo is not so impressed.
And, as a huge bonus, each ribbon is worth a little bit of money, and with that many entries it really adds up!

Sunday, August 3, 2014

One of my very favorite Artists has several books out, one of which I recently bought from Blurb.
the bundle book - Reference photo book


I love her style and reverence for the earth, and have dabbled with my sister in dyeing cloth and paper with leaves and seeds and bark.

Saturday, August 2, 2014

Well, tomorrow I will have Fair photos - I will be there all day, volunteering in the Photo dept. and looking at all the entries! Plus, looking forward to seeing Fred and Barbara, favorite customers of David's BBQ business - they always have a busy food booth. AND, my all-time favorite fair food - scones!!

 Trying my hand at making nettle cordage. The stalks are just right this time of year. You want them mature, but not so old that they are brittle. After you pick them and remove the leaves, you break the stalk, and open it up.
 The hard inner part is broken, and the outer fibers are peeled away. This is the part you want to keep.
 You keep working your way up the stalk.
 This is one nettle's worth of fiber, ready to spin into cordage. Maybe tomorrow, because I've been sitting out on the lawn,
and watching the setting sun color the clouds. We heard thunder far off today, so someone was getting wet! But it was pretty nice here today.
Tuesday, July 29, 2014
 Here's Cathi with her Fruits and Vegetable entries. It was such a great feeling to have accomplished the 17 categories to qualify for the Super 17. Along the way, we made more items - my final count was 51 entries.
Cathi made a memorial plaque for one of the long-time Fair Stewards who died last fall. He ran the Photography exhibit for more than 20 years, as well as assisted in many other areas of the Fair.
Sunday, July 27, 2014
 Tuesday is the final entry day at the fair - last Saturday we entered our Home Ec and Arts entries. Now all that is left is Floral and Fruits and Vegetables. So, as I go off to cut some flowers, Apollo wants to help.
Well, who can resist this?

Wednesday, July 23, 2014
 Had a huge rain and thunder storm, and afterwards, the sun was out for a while. I love the sparkling, dripping greens in the woods.
 And of course I love the drops...
This on a hydrangea blossom.