The "Great" New York State Fair

The end of summer means fair time in Syracuse, as the New York State Fair opens in late August and runs 10 days before its Labor Day finale. We went to the fair on Friday to help staff the Lutheran booth, and to enjoy the people & food.

The fair grounds have many permanent buildings like the horticulture building shown below. It was gladiola day when we were there, and the various displays of those lovely flowers were wonderful to see.



This building is also home to a giant sand sculpture. We watched the sculptors at work, and we loved this year's theme.....
And, tucked in among the flower exhibits, the bee cage & honey exhibit, the maple syrup exhibit, the baked potato booth, and much more, is our favorite little restaurant where we indulged in hot apple dumplings.
Since I was in charge of scheduling the staff for our congregation's day at the booth, we checked in to be certain all was well, and then off we went to see the sights.


The fair is the crowning point for many young people and adults who show their wares at county fairs and then are chosen to exhibit at the state fair. We wandered through the arts and crafts building, and looked at beautiful quilts, sweaters, etc. Lots of very talented people out there! We looked at the photography section as well, but the barns have always been my favorite.

We started with the horses....




Then on to the sheep, llamas and goats.

It was milking time for the goats, and these little girls wanted to get a close up look at how it is done.

We saw cows and pigs and then toured through the poultry barn. Erika - this photo's for you!

The butter sculpture in the dairy building is a must see....

and no visit to a fair could be complete without a trip down the midway!

It was a very enjoyable day!

What houseboaters do on a rainy day

We watch the raindrops on the water -

from the front porch.....

From the back porch....

From the "living room" window......

And we settle in with some liquid refreshment and a good book!

Little Trip

We actually were enticed away from the boat for a quick overnight trip. We went to visit Towhee and Alex in Binghamton. Their new home on top of the mountain is spectacular! If Erika's Bolivian neighbor is amazed at only two people living in Erika's house, I can't even imagine her reaction to the Shupka home. It is very grand, and the Shupkas are very hospitable folks. Unfortunately, although we had the camera, we did not take any photos. Maybe next time.

We enjoyed Alex's veal osso bucco, some great wine, a fire in the chiminea on the deck, and the friendship of Towhee, Alex & the dogs.

We also went to the movies for the first time in years! We saw the new Batman movie, A Dark Knight. It was interesting, to say the least, and the Joker was - well- scary? diabolical? sick? psychotic? inhuman? Whatever he was- Heath Ledger did a phenomenal job in his performance. As an aside, we also learned that popcorn is now $7 a pop- we all passed on that!

The Face of the Wind

We have been having some strange weather lately, with scattered storms blowing through. Our weather normally comes from the west, and we often see the storms approaching over the ridge. Yesterday, we watched as a large black cloud blew by just to the north of us- moving west to east. We were spared rain from that one! It was followed by full sunshine, and clear skies to the west, so we decided to take the boat out to watch the sunset. We crossed the lake and cruised slowly north, heading for Taughannock State Park. As we headed up the lake, I could see the wind making small ripples on the water, and mentioned it to Tom. Not more than five minutes later, those ripples had grown to large waves. We decided we had better go home. The wind had changed, and was blowing strongly from the south east - a very unusual direction! We had to battle the wind to get back to the dock, but made it on our second try with the help of our neighbors. We scurried around securing our umbrellas & chairs, battened down the hatches, and then relaxed and watched the storm come in!

Can you see the face in these clouds?

08-08-08

So Tom said to me this morning - "Well, we've had 30 happy years of marriage. Not bad for being married 38 years!" Well har-de-har har to him! :-)

(Yes, it's our 38th anniversary today)

Heron on a post

Things are quiet at the marina- the weather (rainy) and the price of gas ($4.90) have combined to keep many day-trippers and even weekenders away! We are enjoying watching the wildlife!