Hope You Aren't Tired of the Fair Yet?

Hope y'all aren't tired of the State Fair yet -- and I

hope you ate your Wheaties this morning - get

your walking shoes on cuz here we go!

The State Fair grounds during the fair is like its' own little big

town... you don't get any where fast because it is so busy.

First pick your mode of transportation -- stroller, trolley,

skyglider or skyride -- other wheels are "NOT" allowed.

Remember we are starting from the BARN as noted on the map - and

unless you are in a wheelchair or still a child and fit in a stroller - yeah you

guessed it you are WALKING! So grab those favorite comfy shoes....

We don't do it often but a couple times during the fair we will

check things out on the other side -- that is where most of the

GUY STUFF is at....

Like the entire street that is full of the old time tractors - some

displayed under tents and some running.

If you get tired of walking you can take one of the sky rides but

remember when you get to the other side you still have to walk back.


How about a ferris wheel ride - this one is for the youngsters
at the kiddie midway!

We enjoyed ol' Sweet Martha's Cookies -- I thought about

getting a large container ($15) and bringing some

home but they never would have made it that far -- they

are so yummmy!

Can't forget the "harley store" -- they have a very nice display of

many old and new motorcycles and a large amount of clothing

available.... The Harley Davidson store attracts young and old - it

is fun to just watch people.... Did you notice the reflection

in this photo - that is my dear hubby finding lots of

chrome on this bike --- He thought we would look "HOT" on

this one!

And finally, this was the new food we tried this year and
it actually was on a stick --- I have to admit I don't
believe other than cotton candy there is anything I
usually have at the fair that is on a stick --
These potato twisters weren't to die for - in fact
you can make them by slicing up a potato and putting some
lawry's on them, dip in ranch and wala... texas twisters --
the unique part is that these twisters are the entire potato
cut so that the slices are connected and they really were on a stick!




Alright.... that is enough your feet are tired, you're dusty and dirty, your
stomach is full of greasy fair food now head back to the BARN
find your chair and put your feet up!

Show Day Arrives -

Those of you who have taken part in shows -- horse shows, dog shows,

any type of contests or if you have an interest in sports -- You Will Understand!

And then an additional tidbit is that families and breeders have an

interest in these shows -- if their animals do well then of course

that helps their business....

Now what is the outcome of doing well at the state show? The outcome

may be this: If you receive a purple ribbon (usually the top two in the

class) you may be eligible for the purple ribbon auction (they take a

percentage of the purple ribbon exhibitors).

If the luck would really be flowing and you showed the champion barrow

overall -- you would win the use of a donated Featherlite trailer for

a year and you would be in the auction..... Being in the auction

would be a great way to put away some "further education funds".

So a little history -- sound impossible? Not - my family (myself and a sister)

have both been honored to have the Overall Champion Barrow at

the Mn State Fair (1985 and 1996) - other family members have been ohhhh so

close! And others who have bought from Dad's herd have

also been in the auction with their purple ribbon animals --- so there you go-

The dream is to be placed in Pen #1 ---

OK on with the show --- head to the SWINE BARN.....

and make it through the people past the momma sow pig

with her piglets to the show ring -- there are two show rings

and it is standing room only -- that is standing on your tip toes

to try to see!

Thankfully this year daughter was in the

second class --- there are over 19 classes all together

which makes for a very long hot day....

Daughter did well - her barrow did all that he was asked although

she was not asked back for showmanship.

The judge watches each pig enter the show ring then determines

those that shall stay in the ring and those that will be dismissed

(usually the ones dismissed receive red ribbons) -- then the

judge places the top of the class or the blue ribbon hogs.

Daughter and another young man showing a pig he

purchased from Dad's herd were both placed in pens -- not

the first pens but at least placed in the pens.

Daughter was placed in a pen but received a red ribbon - when

comments were made by the judge - her barrow was referred

to as the "blood wort hog" -- you will have to go back to

my first fair post a couple of days ago and take a good look at her pig --

her pig had a mark between his shoulders that was a blood

wort -- after it healed and dried up it caused the pigment

to change and her red registered duroc pig began to

grow white hairs ---- which didn't affect his confirmation

nor his marketability but the judge didn't like it.

So it goes.

This was the last year for daughter, the young man and

third picture is my dad (in the middle with the white

cap) --- all disappointed faces -- And lets include my Hubby who was the guy

behind the scenes - helping to feed and keeping daughter at task. But we can say

we tried and over the years we've given it a

good run.

And we should all be proud because -- the pigs coming

from this small up north farm are always watched... they get

lots of attention by other breeders at the state show --- they don't

want to turn their backs because you just

never know when that "up north" hog is going to be placed

in that pen with the #1 on it!

Trailer, A Girl & A Pig!

The title to this entry could have been used 25 years ago.

"Trailer, A Girl & A Pig".....

We just returned from the "great get together" --- the MN

State Fair as a 4-H family attending with our

daughter along with her project.

I had a co-worker ask me "Why do you do this?" -- What a

question - I'm trying to answer it....

First, Hubby and I, were both raised on

some type of farm - by parents who grew up in the

small towns or in the country making a living by farming.

25 years ago, I was that "girl" with a "pig" -- I grew up with a

family that raised hogs -- for a living. My dads' siblings showed

hogs, my siblings showed hogs and the tradition continued

once Hubby and I moved our family back to the farm -- our

son joined 4-H and daughter tagged along.

What became our summer project turned into our summer vacation

at the state fair along with state dog shows and regional horse shows

all evolving through 4-H. 4-H was a great opportunity to

involve our youngsters in activities that would include

our pets and hobbies.

All of the projects taught our kids responsibilities and hopefully

gave them something to be proud of.

So I'm still not sure how to answer that question because

at times (most of the time) the project wasn't profitable in

fact how could we break even with the price of feed and

market prices....

but the experience may be deemed priceless. Hopefully in time

my children think back to these times and recognize or

acknowledge that these days have molded them into who

they are...... Because it did for me -

You earn a trip to the state fair at your local county fair - a

number of trips are given to each county based upon how many

show at the county fair in each specific specie --- ex: in our county this year the swine had 4 slots for 4 different 4-H'ers to attend -- only

3 took advantage of the trip.

We hauled the three pigs down -- the first thing is to get in the line

to unload.... the trailers line up and wait for their turn.

This is the day before the fair actually begins --- all of the streets

are busy with people unloading and moving stuff in.


Next, is to locate our pens and to get them ready for their occupants.

Meet "Billy" -- this is daughters' barrow for this years' fair.

He is a registered duroc and weighed in at 285 lbs. -- she

named him "Billy" because as a very young piglet his

mother became sick and died -- he was then raised on goats

milk until he was old enough to eat feed.

Once they are settled in -- it is time to feed them -- we have
these handy trough like portable feeders that attach to
the walls..... they certainly help keep the pens cleaner
rather than using a pan that pigs just move around and
eventually lie on.





Hubby also got the waterer in place..... this is a large PVC pipe
with the bottom plugged and a waterer spigot added so that
pig can get water... this makes it possible for
pig to have water in front of him all day....



The second evening the kids get their pigs down to the wash
rack to clean them up... rubber boots would be a necessity -

And then they move them back to their pens - note pigs

get use to walking through crowds. The two boys on

the right side and the 2 girls on the left side are

spectators....

This year the 4-H'ers took part in doing a demonstration on

their project -- the subject this year was "cuts of meat" on

a hog ---

Next show day....

State Fair - To Escape!

To get away from these crowds of people ----




I went to the Warner Coliseum to watch the horse shows - they were doing jumping this day! I believe during the time that we were there - they held several english hunter classes. I stopped in a few times for peace and quiet (the arena is full of people but other than the announcer at times it is very quiet) - each time I stopped they were doing jumping classes. I only saw one gal (an adult) take a plunge - the horse reached the jump and stopped - his rider went right over his head into the dirt (she was disqualified).

State Fair - Food and Fun! (and Flu)

Now for the fun part of the State Fair - the food! The day we arrive the fair is not officially open therefore most of the foodstands and displays are closed - they are rushing frantically to get prepared. We arrived at 10:00 a.m. - this year my Dad pulled the hog trailer down with the load of hogs and I drove separately with the girls (the hubby's big truck - so that we can bring the trailer home)

This foodstand is the "great standby" - it is always open on the first day and is always open early and best of all it is close by the swine barn. They have great home cooking - we had our share of hamburgers and one late morning tried a western type omelet - it was good.




The Buni stand sells caramel rolls - they are huge and delicious! This is only a block or so down from the barns so easy access on a busy day! I headed out one morning to get a roll (I think hubby thought we were going to share - so a plain caramel roll was ordered) But when I arrived and stood in line they took out pans of fresh rolls so I ordered two -- one plain caramel roll and a caramel roll with pecans for me! It was as delicious as it looked!



It seems we have our favorites that we have to eat each year - and sometimes we try new things. The pretzel would have been a "have to have" since it was fantastic in the previous years. I stood in line one afternoon before hubby arrived - I ordered a plain pretzel with butter and garlic dipped in cheese. The young gal then said and what would you like the third one -- I didn't know it but apparently we were having a communication problem and she thought I ordered three pretzels. No ma'm! I left with one pretzel and cheese for dipping and she threw the others in the garbage. It went from bad to bad - my pretzel was not a bit warm therefore not very good. I saved a portion (a good portion) to take back to the barn to share and then I dropped it. Oh well, it wasn't very good and it was only $5.00 - it seems like everything is at least $5.00.





Then there is good ol' faithful - "Coasters" or better known as the "beer garden" where the conditions are perfect - that is why we keep going back. The music is soo loud that you cannot hear and the beverages are expensive - therefore it is difficult to have too much to drink. But they serve a good steak sandwich.





The buy of the weekend (actually there were two) -- Smokey Joe's Smokehouse sold beef jerkies (different flavors) for $4.00 -- we had a coupon so it was less. The jerkies were similar to a slim jim but much much larger and must have been a foot and half long -- they were delicious - would buy them again even without a coupon! Good place to stop next year!

The other great buy was Kathy's Cotton Candy - a stick was $2. and we had a coupon so got the stick for $1.00 --- this had to be the buy of the fair! And the only thing we bought on a stick!



One afternoon we headed to the other end of the fairgrounds which use to be Machinery Hill - unusual, it doesn't appear to be a hill. We found an entire street of old restored tractors and some not restored - very interesting. This picture is of a restored Farmall.



We did a bit of wishful thinking (dreaming) - we would like a sports car - a convertible or a three wheel tryke motorcycle.... Dream on...




Then for the real fun - Jason Aldean concert -- here are the concert goers! -- Cowboy hats and all! A good time was had although I felt like maybe I should have requested the adult section.







Now the final "f" - the flu! Today I was notified by one of our 4-H families who all became sick over the duration of the fair -- they went to the doctor and were told that they likely had the H1N1 flu but it was not confirmed and they are to just let it run its course. Found out that three other families are also sick apparently there was a flu outbreak and many have been affected. Our family at this time just has colds.

State Fair - Down to Work!

Identification had already been done - this breeding gilt will be in the January Duroc class. Just for information she was weighed (375 lbs.)...

Show Day Morning - up at 5 a.m. and headed to the fairgrounds. We hoped to beat the crowd and only had to wait in backed up traffic for a few miles. Changes in parking this year put us in the lot across the highway so it was a bit of a walk back and forth to the truck.

The show started at 8 a.m. and the people crowded into the barn!



Helping with last minutes details. Ready to go with jeans, boots and white shirt. And don't forget the whip and the brush. Dad (hubby) would be in charge of the extra things, if needed: Water jug in case she (the pig) gets hot and the sprayer to continue spraying her down (so she shines) if needed.



I found my way up into the stands so that I could attempt to video tape and take a few pictures. They found their way to the staging area..... yes (it was extremely crowded) -- this is the gate area and there is a pig there somewhere.



Dad finds a spot close by in case assistance is needed. If the pig gets penned then he would try to get through the people to offer water -- to keep pig cool.



Entering the show ring is the most important part of the show -- you have the one on one attention of the Judge and you always hope that pig makes a perfect entry. Entering the show ring went well - a bit later pig decided to speed things up but it wasn't long before she settled down.



Nice and calm both were the rest of the show. This breeding gilt was placed in Pen #1 (yahoo) and was invited back in for showmanship. At this state show you must be invited back in with a showmanship ribbon in order to show for showmanship. This would be the first time invited back in for showmanship. Pig received 1st place (a champion ribbon) in this class, she came back to show against the February and March gilt classes but was beat out by the March gilts who walked away with the Grand and Reserve Champions overall (Durocs).




After all the gilt classes were done - it was time for showmanship - Amanda and pig didn't pull it off but they sure gave the competition a run for that plaque. We thought she was close all the way through the class.




Purple Ribbon - 1st place (Champion) in the January Duroc gilt class. (A job well done) The other 4-H'ers from our county also did well all receiving blue ribbons and the crossbred barrow placed 6th in his class.

We are pretty proud of this gilt - she will stay down at the state fair for the open class - Dad N. will show her and we hope she does well. From the day we arrived she received a lot of attention from other breeders and people passing by. A common question was - what is her pedigree information. So we will see what happens at the open show with a different judge.

State Fair - Getting to the Fair!

We've just returned from spending 5 days at the Minnesota State Fair - which has become a summer tradition in our family!




First, our kids work hard on their projects and with the swine project it begins in April - May when the young pigs come to our home. The 4-H'ers that attend the State Fair work hard to win trips with their projects. It takes lots of walking and talking to get these pigs to do their best!



Loading up for the State Fair - our county only had 4 pigs going down this year. Three of which were barrows and 1 gilt. All were Durocs with one barrow being a crossbred.



We have arrived!




The kids that arrived an hour before us had the pens located and our signage up. The shavings were located and the pigs were unloaded. It didn't take long for them to get all settled in after having a bite to eat.

NOW IT IS OUR TURN! Let's get to the hotel so we can get something to eat!







A little bit of fun with the hotel cart!