i went with my parents to the fair tonight. my mom and i did well!
she won yet another best in show rosette for one of her vinegars--her sixth rosette. total of six blue ribbons and two red (second place) out of eight entries this year. she said the victory wasn’t quite as sweet without her friend gail there cursing at her.
i won first place for my apple butter, with tough competition. i don’t know how they judge. also took first for green tomato salsa, and third for both elderberry syrup and dried elderberries. my 3am jellies didn’t do anything. i knew they wouldn’t, they’re cloudy, but they taste complex and delicious and at least they set properly. after staying up all night to make them i felt obligated to enter.
my honeycomb socks took first place, and owl mittens got an honorable mention. not sure what you have to do to place in the knitted mittens category...the ones displayed below are so much better than mine, but they only got honorable mention too.
my ground cherries took first, five-tomato collection took second, turkish orange eggplants second, thai basil cuttings third, sage cuttings third, and white currant tomatoes third. chives and chiapas wild tomatoes didn’t place.
photography was kind of a let-down...two honorable mentions and a third place. there are always so many entries, so many awesome photos, and i have the hardest time picking which of mine to enter. i feel like i could’ve done a better job, but oh well.
we had great fun looking at all the exhibits. people make and grow some amazing stuff. i took away lots of inspiration and ideas, like:
i have to make one of these next year! they’re a little creepy actually...especially the one with bloody innards bulging from its eye sockets...and they remind me of mandrake root people…but still, cool! and not nearly as creepy as this thing:
here i am, aghast, horror-struck before this creature, this abomination, and this woman comes up to me.
enthusiastic lady: “isn’t she cute?”
me: “really? i…uh…it’s…so realistic.”
*clear throat*
*wander off, dumbfounded*
i wonder if the people who make “real dolls” for perverts and the people who make “reborn dolls” for otherwise disturbed individuals (and maybe perverts too, who knows) share the same human-simulation-realism technologies. normally i'm not a judger when it comes to sexual paraphilias and eccentric hobbies that don't harm other living beings, but i'm sorry, synthetic humans give me the willies. to each her/his own, more power to them and whatnot, but, wow. here’s a link to the website of the mad scientist who brought this bundle of nightmare to simulated life. enough photos of faux babies to pollute my dreams for days.
anyone else entering/entered things in your state fair this year?
9 comments:
Congratulations on your many successes! I would love your recipe for green tomato salsa if you wouldn't mind sharing it. We Portlanders excel at growing green tomatoes; getting them to ripen is another matter. I laughed out loud when I read your mom's victory wasn't as sweet without her friend to curse her. Haha! Love the socks!
i really want to and wouldn't mind next year, but i don't even have a CLUE what is involved, what the guidelines are, or what the cost is...like if there were a knit robot category, i would ROCK that...or a "weird creations involving dough..."i would kick that one's butt...
ooh ooh...or a "cat clothes that look like costumes from silly movies..." i would totally get 1st in that one what with raisin's abundance of batman, jedi, and harry potter outfits hahaha
The baby freaked the hell out of all 4 of us today. I thought she'd better make Halloween props for $. We looked for your stuff, but the two K and I went with weren't as interested in the veggies this year as they were last year. Kyle really liked the garden sign (as did I). I spent a lot of time petting sweet animals that looked pretty confused. I swear they tune into me.
From the creepy baby website: "Girl babies will receive magnets inside their heads for hair bows and pacifiers. Boy babies get one for a pacifier. You need to be cautious with these magnets as they are very strong and caution needs to be taken around electronic equipment. Especially be careful around those with pacemakers."- death by fake creepy baby!
jessica--thank you! i'll email you the salsa recipe...good timing because i have another thing to email you too.
spoony--haha, there's no cost to enter anything, in fact they give YOU monies! i won about $40 this year. and there are a lot of categories, i'm sure you could find spaces for all your stuff--plus there's always some kind of catch-all category like "anything else of merit not listed" in each division.
goneferal--glad i'm not the only one horrified. reed picked up on that same thing on the website, about pacemakers...damn, that would be a seriously weird death for you to investigate. he was also really disgusted by this: "The babies are so cuddly that I dare you to not pat their little bums and you cuddle them. The babies little necks are floppy so you will need to hold their little heads up for them."
That's awesome--Congratulations to you and your mom! I think your pictures are pretty amazing, so the competition must have been stiff. I like your owl mittens too. Are you going to post your recipes? I'd love to try your award-winning green tomato salsa!
Oh that doll...'cute' isn't the word that popped into my head. Dolls in general give me the creeps (I watched too many scary movies during my formative years), so I'm right there with you on the freaky baby doll thing.
aww, thank you. i'll email you the salsa recipe too! once i find it. i have the basic recipe but i have to find out the process time conversion for you and jessica--i think you're both just above sea level. i'm at around 2,700' so i add extra time, i just don't remember how much i added.
those babies are kinda disturbing...and i normally like dolls but i think that's a little over the top...
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