Our Day at the Minnesota State Fair!

We had a great day at the Fair this past Friday even though it never got warmer than 60 degrees and the wind blew all day long. As long as we could occasionally go in a building and get out of the cold wind, we were just fine. The first building we entered was the coliseum where a horse competition was in progress. I was too far away to get good pictures. Next we wandered into the cattle barn. I love the cows, horses, sheep and goats......pigs not so much. :-) I always look for the biggest cow and there were some big ones! I got really excited when I saw a couple of young girls combing the hide of this ....... bull! That's right, the owner was letting folks comb the hide of her bull. I had to do this and gave my husband the camera........I was like "oh, my gosh, I am combing the hide of a bull!!"
I mean, that's a bull!! a real live "ready to show" bull! The owners were out of Latimer, Iowa and were so nice. I just loved this experience and it was the highlight of my day at the Fair!

Even as we drove home, I could not believe that I had been that close to a real bull!

There was no excitement when we arrived at the Swine barn as Minnesota's largest boar was asleep. This is not a "little piggy"! I forgot to write down it's size but note the little kids that are looking at it and you can get an idea of just how big it is.

Sheep-shearing was going on all around the barn. That poor sheep has his head in that holder and must be patient while the shearing takes place. All I could think was .......who gets that wool and wouldn't it make good Santa beards? :-)

Then I saw this sheep and all I could think was "I want some of this wool for a Father Christmas figure". :-)

My husband, Steve, always likes the horses that the Minnesota Zoo brings to the Fair. This is "Duke" and his partner "Prince" is in the next stall. That little girl asked Steve if it was okay to pet the horse, so they both petted it at the same time. The trainer said that Duke and Prince often eat candy that the kids are holding but otherwise they are tame and very cooperative.

From the barns, we headed over the Grandstand area and into rows and rows of vendors. I was in search of sewing machines and also was looking for Rosebud's Cottage booth. I found Creative Sewing Centers and got my husband involved in looking at the machines. I got a good demo from the Janome rep, but the info on the Brother machines was not so good. My main purpose was to get my husband aware of what I want in a machine and then he can go buy it for me. :-) He was a willing foil in my plot to get a new machine. :-) My favorite vendor in this area was the Mini Donut stand! Yum!

Cold as it was outside, this area was hot because of all the vendors so we moved on to the Horticulture building (I found perfect Christmas trees!) and then to the Dairy Building. That's Linda Christensen, butter sculptress at work. She is capturing one of the Milky Way princesses in rich, creamy butter. For a little more info on this tradition, go here.

We thought about getting an ice cream in the Dairy building but the line was way too long! So instead we moved on toward the next building and as we came around a bend ...... there in front of us............was Elvis! Yes, Elvis was in the park!!!! LOL!

After passing Elvis, I headed to the Creative Activities building and Steve went in search of technology and tools. I enjoyed looking at all the handiwork and here are some favorites.......

I saw this set of doll clothes and decided I need a doll. The work on these outfits was exquisite and it only took second place. I voted this a blue ribbon in my book. :-)

In the back of the Creative Activities building, there are booths and I found Kathi from The Sampler quilt shop. She answered all my questions about Bernina machines and here she is showing me the "machine of my dreams". Steve wasn't with me, but at least I got good brochures which he read. I bought fabric while I was here. I've never thought of buying fabric at the Fair and I thoroughly enjoyed it. :-)

I headed back out to the exhibit area where I was amazed at the work on these hardanger pieces. I have never done any hardanger work but am fortunate to have a piece that was made by my husband's Aunt Jean. I treasure it as I know the precise work that goes into making these lovely pieces.There were lots of quilts but only one that really "caught my eye". This photo, taken through the glass is not very good but you can see that it is done in applique. The color is more light ivory beige, not a tan/gold as it looks in the photo. I've always wanted to make a red and green quilt and that's why I liked this one so much.

My grandma Goldie tatted although I don't remember seeing her do it as much as I remember her quilting or playing the piano. I'll bet, though, that she would have loved seeing these tatting projects. They were just amazing! I was also amazed at some of the beautiful beading work shown in another case. Photos of it just didn't work.

It was "time out" for dinner so we ate at the Epiphany Diner (run by volunteers from Epiphany Catholic Church in Coon Rapids, MN). The food was excellent! Steve was in search of dessert.....ice cream. I had mini donuts to munch on but we decided to wander in search of ice cream and headed toward Heritage Square. I was still in search of Rosebud's Cottage and knew it was there. That's also where we found the ice cream vendor. Steve got a cone and waited patiently while I found.......

Lots of fun shops are located in this area but it was at the west end of the Fairgrounds and the cold and wind sort of just settled right into this area. In fact, behind the pole in the center of the picture, you can see Roseanne, owner of Rosebud's Cottage, wrapped in one of her quilts. She looked so cozy wrapped in her quilt that I asked if I could take her picture and she said "sure".
Then I shopped and bought some really cute fat quarters which will appear here in a finished project one day soon. :-)

It was really hard to believe that earlier in the week we were sweltering in heat and humidity, and that at the end of the week, people were sporting gloves, headbands, coats and heavy sweaters! Typical Minnesota weather........always surprising!

This booth was also in Heritage Square and it was sooooooo busy! I felt sorry for all those animals that ended up just for display. :-( The sun was going down and it was getting even colder, so we decided to call it a day. This is the crowd in the area of the bungee jump (you can see my husband Steve in the lower right looking up at the person about to jump). It was "wall-to-wall" people in this area.

The Midway was on the right of the photo above. Lots of people were watching this ride..........

That's a group of riders hanging upside down in bucket seats at the top of that picture. The ride takes you up and then swings you down and around again. It's called "Rock it!" My husband loves this kind of thing and has been on the "Big Shot" out in Las Vegas. The wilder the ride, the better in his book. I like solid ground! He knew better than to ask if I'd like to ride. LOL! Others didn't share my sentiments as the line was long to get on this ride.

We headed out the gate and home. We had both had enough walking for one day. The body doesn't do this stuff as well as it did when we were younger! All in all, it was great day and a fun way to celebrate this Labor Day weekend.

And speaking of Labor Day, it's an official holiday here in the states (a little history is here). I won't be posting a "What's on my line?" post this Monday but will be back with that feature on Monday, September 13th. In fact, I'm going to take a week off from blogging and won't be back until that Monday. My husband is on vacation this week and I decided, I wanted to vacation, too! Have a good week and I'll see you next Monday!

Sandi