Finished! Yarn Along

Maddie's sweater is done! You can see more pictures here. I suspect this is a pattern I will be using again....and again! She loves it and still will not take it off.

So now I am working on new socks again for Maddie. I think they will match something we purchased for her birthday very well. She hasn't noticed yet that I am working on socks. I'm hoping I can slide them by but think that probably won't happen!

I am listening to CraftLit's podcast of Sense and Sensibility. This is my first time listening to a Craftlit podcast or any podcast for that matter! Its interesting but I can't say I love it. Only time will tell there I guess! Maddie is reading Twenty-One Elephants and Still Standing out loud to the kids and me as often as possible this week. On Friday she will be helping our 4H county coordinator with another summer reading program at the library. The last time she helped at the Scotia Library it was a last minute call and we didn't have time to practice the book. She did OK reading it aloud but wanted to practice this time around since we have time. Those things do go much better with practice.

Joining Ginny at Small Things for the yarn along today!

And Its Done!!!

I finished Maddie's sweater yesterday. Despite the heat and humidity (today it was close to 90) and the sweater being made of wool its been hard to convince Maddie to take it off. I guess its a win! I think I should've made the next size up but Maddie doesn't seem to mind!

Yes, well, its been a long weekend and start to the week around here with the fair and being a vacation Bible school helper. 

This is the first top down sweater I have made and I love that technique! On to the next project!! 

Fair Day 2

Yesterday morning we headed back up to the fair for another snack shop shift. After looking at the weather and seeing scattered thunderstorms in the forecast we decided earlier was better than later so Maddie could visit the places she wanted to see and hot some of the rides before we had to leave. It was a smart move! The morning was hot, humid and muggy followed by clouds we could actually see rolling in and a violent thunderstorm.

Maddie and I wore our new snack shop shirts which declare "World Class Strawberry Shortcakes" on the front and "Follow Me...." on the back! Brian liked these shirts, he didn't lose us once in the crowd all day for obvious reasons!

Our first stop on arriving at the fair was the wildlife rescue group to see the owls, falcons and hawks. I was amazed both days at how calm the birds were but the people there said they do 30-40 shows per year so they are used to people. Also making sure everyone stays in front of them helps!

Maddie's favorite, the barred owl

A saw whet owl-so tiny that he is adorable and hard to remember that he is a bird of prey!

Merlin falcon

After that we made our usual trips through the sheep barn and the horses. Maddie was as amazed as we were by the Belgian draft horses! Across the way from the draft horse barn was the giraffe who had a friend with her/him(?) this year! If you want to feed the giraffe that is the time of day to arrive. They were happy to take the carrots from Maddie as quickly as possible. I did feel bad for the animals up front and their caretaker. She was yelling at a group to "STOP DOING THAT" whatever it was it took her a couple of attempts to get them to stop. Its a job I could not do by any means because the general public are not animal savvy and frankly behave like idiots more times than not. The signs around the giraffe prove that!

After that we wandered over to the DEC tent to get some advice on where Maddie could practice archery. The gentleman there suggested that she makes friends with a person who has a lot of land and then show them she is a responsible kid. She had a really fun conversation with him and we could tell he was happy to get her involved. It is unfortunate that although New York State allows kids to target shoot there are not places for them to really practice that. So we will put our thinking caps on and see what we can do. There is a place at the fair to try your hand though! And Maddie did just that!!

We finished up our morning by hitting some of the rides! 

Then a snack shop shift and unfortunately the big storm so we headed for home! Tonight we head back for a bit to pick up projects. Before we know it the State Fair time will be here!

Altamont Fair Day 1!

What a busy day! We arrived at the fairgrounds at 9:45 and started our snack shop shift at 10:00. Maddie worked there in the morning (we sold about 5 strawberry shortcakes and LOTS of snacks!) then ate lunch and went to the 4H building to work as a junior superintendent. Before all of that however we "visited" our displays. Blue ribbons all around and one project from our group is going to State Fair!

Somehow I got a fuzzy picture of Maddie in the snack shop. Good thing we are going back for another session so I can get a better one! 

Maddie worked at the bubble machine station for her Junior Superintendent shift. She helped kids up into the machine and explained how to pull the handle to enclose themselves in a bubble! 

While Maddie was working Principal Dad and I roamed the fairgrounds looking at the things that normally bore Maddie like the cars and the crafts while saving the DEC tent and the owl rescue for later when she was with us! 

the mannequins they have in places around the fairgrounds are, I have to admit, a bit on the creepy side! 

Pretty horse!

the largest horse I have ever seen and been that close to. This was in the draft horse barn! 

We also met some very interesting people but since that led to getting a little something for a certain Mamaw in Idaho it will have to wait until later! Hmmm... We finished up by spending the last hour listening to the rock band on the stage in the grove! It was nice to sit for a bit! Then we collected Maddie, had some dinner and headed for home!! 

Almost Done!

Yay! I am at the very bottom of Maddie's sweater. I have maybe a row or 2 left then I can bind off and start the sleeves. Since the sleeves are short they shouldn't take too long. Maddie keeps asking when it will be done and my question back is "Why do you need a wool sweater in August in humid NY?".

I am now reading Robinson Crusoe ahead of Maddie reading it for school. I am also skimming What Jane Austen ate and Charles Dickens knew which is a very interesting review of things you run across in both Jane and Charles' novels. Money, how the church runs, the mail and things like that.

Joining Ginny at Small Things for the Yarn Along. What are you knitting and reading this week?

Fair Judging Day!!

So today was the big day! Maddie finally gets to participate at the fair as a Junior Superintendent in the 4H building. She is so excited! On Wednesday she went for training and also helped paint. I am not sure which had more paint in the end, the wall or Maddie! She came home and headed straight for the shower! Today she worked with the photography judge by helping to keep track of what was being entered and running things back and forth to the table.

Then we had some lunch and Maddie made the rounds with her projects. First she dropped off her bread. This was a relief since I was lugging it around all morning for fear of leaving it in the hot car.

She won a blue ribbon! The only critique the judge had was to double check the spelling on her recipe. Whoops! Well, at least the bread was good. 

Then we moved on to the Forestry section to hand in her Tree Identification Notebook. The judge was very impressed with it and took the time to look at every page. 

That was another blue ribbon! 

Then we stood in line for the photography judge...and stood there....and stood there because the girls in front of Maddie had about 30 photos and 15 photos respectively. So I took over and stood in line while Maddie popped over to the Achievement book table. 

Another blue ribbon!

We waited some more and finally Maddie had her turn. They discussed her photos and all 5 received blue ribbons. 

The last project was a bag made from an old t-shirt. Maddie made it with our club. You cut off the arms and the bottom then cut slits up the bottom of the bag and tie it off with a double knot. 

And that was the last and final blue ribbon!

A couple of the kids came in the morning and helped us set up our club display about Rockets to the Rescue! I love that the kids actually did everything for the display. It was their idea, they made the posters and they hung it up! Awesome! Fingers crossed for another blue ribbon here! We will find out on Friday when we head back up.

It was a long hot day but well worth it! Maddie loved the new experience and can't wait to get back on Friday and do another shift as a Junior Superintendent!