Recently Nonie and I went to the Silvana Fair. Silvana is a little tiny place not far from my cabin and the fair is mostly about the 4H kids and their animals and projects. It is only a one day fair, but very fun and friendly.
The focus is all about the cattle, swine, rabbits, cows, sheep and what have you that the kids raise. There were all sorts of very well cared for animals and some very proud young people watching over theirs.
This bunny reminded me of when my daughter Annie had two gray mini lops while she was in high school. She got them, Moose and Goose, when she was a freshman and they were her pride and....well, maybe not joy, but she loved them greatly. Moose died sometime during Annie's high school years. I can no longer remember exactly when. Then Annie went off to Stanford.
And left me with Goose. Goose the bunny. The very animal I had never ever wanted to own....and that rabbit lived and lived and lived and then it lived some more. I called the vet once and asked how long a mini lop might actually live and they told me that if we got 5 to 7 years out of one we were doing well.
Ahem. That rabbit lived until Annie was in GRAD SCHOOL. I think it was almost 12 when it finally went to the big carrot field in the sky. I hate to say it was the rabbit that I wished dead, but there were times.....well, I did take good care of her and we did come to an understanding and we got on pretty well---mostly. But, I really never, ever, wanted to have a rabbit as a pet. Even a cute one like Goose.
This bunny brought that all back. (I'm glad it's not mine!!!)
This young woman was gently petting her chicken. I can't say I had ever seen anyone pet a chicken before, but she did. For a long time. Very gently.
There was a greased pole and a long line of children waiting to try their luck at getting to the top and snatching one of the envelopes stapled to the very top. I assumed there were prizes and that the envelope told you what you had won. We only saw one girl who actually made it all the way up to claim a prize, but all the children seemed to be really enjoying the greased pole climb.
It was quite a warm day and these cattle were enjoying a rest in the shade on a handy pile of straw.
There were lots of exhibits inside the Viking Hall. Prize winning jams and jellies, baked good, quilts, artwork (both children's and adults) and produce were all displayed.
I was quite taken with the eggs. There were turkey, hen, duck and quail eggs, all displayed neatly in baskets. The duck eggs were, truly, a lovely soft shade of duck egg blue. For some reason that always surprises me.
It was a lovely fair. I hope I can go again next year.
1 comment:
The kids did well to produce all that great stuff. Loved your story about the bunny. It is against the law to keep bunnies here unless you have special permission and then there are very strict rules. This is because of the damage they do to the farmland. They are an introduced animal which has become a pest.
I hate to tell you but the word verification is still there. When you turned it off did you save it?
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