OK, it's time for the Nevada County Fair Round-up. Get comfortable.
So here in the first shot is the largest iteration of the little logo I drew for the Fair that I saw. It was posted on the street corner as one approaches the first parking lot. That would be Parking Lot One, where, ahem, VIPs such as myself were given passes to park for free this year. Well, just beyond the disabled spaces. Still.
I arrived on the first day, Wednesday, around 10:45 to drop off my entry into the cheesecake contest to be judged that evening. Besides all the foods/crafts/art/etc. that get judged the week before the fair begins, there is one food contest each day of the Fair when one brings one's entry to be judged in front of anyone interested and then all the entries are sampled by the audience.
Day One: cheesecake. Two divisions--traditional (plain) and exotic (everything else). I got second place in the exotic for my made-up peanut butter/chocolate/caramel concoction (prize=a twelve-mini-cheesecake pan. It looks like a muffin pan, but all the little cups have false bottoms. Oddly, I didn't already have one). First place for her made-up marguerita-flavored cheesecake was our realtor-friend, Flo. She sold us our house. Tom and I sat with her and her husband and a few of their friends during the judging, which takes forever. Goin' after Flo next year!
Earlier in the day, I had sat on bales of hay to learn more about wild birds in the area, native plants and worm-composting.
Meanwhile, I checked out the crafts barn and found that I had gotten second place (out of two) for my little basket. Clearly, I was out-woven, though I did like my wild manzanita "fringe". Next year, I'll think a little bigger (which means a little sooner, I guess...).
In the Tall Pines building, I "earned" blue ribbons for my music calligraphy (out of one) and my pastel (and again, in a field of one).
That's the beauty of a small county, right? Still, it's fun to have stuff hanging up there. In the pastel, I was trying to knock myself out of my usual color instincts. That's all I have to say about that. No plein aire this year, for reasons I couldn't learn.
Among other things, I listened to a bluegrass band, watched a mini-horse demonstration and patted the alpacas. I drove home to pick up Tom so he could watch the cheesecake competition. Very fun first day...
