A FAIR Day

On Sunday, the 4th, I got up early.
The Welcome Mat at Beth and Greg's was out. . . .  (for a LONG time, it'd seem). . . .

 I went to church early, and let the two of them sleep in.  St. Andrews in town there is a really beautiful church:

St. Andrew's is just down the street from this venerable institution, The Bacon Academy, which dates back to 1803 and is on the National Register of Historic Places.  (I did some research to find that out.) The building is still used as a school in the Colchester Public Schools. . . .

. . . .their alternative High School, I think. At least the Wikepedia article about the building seems to say so:

After church I met Beth and Greg at the Village Green where there was a Farmers Market going on.  Beth told me that it is a regular thing, every Sunday morning. . . .

We wandered around the Farmers Market, but couldn't find anything we wanted to buy. Beth suggested we drive over to the Woodstock County Fair, up in the northeast corner of Connecticut about an hour's ride away. I had my doubts (as did Greg) about whether it'd be worth such a long trip, but saw that it was worth the trip once we got there. . . .

There were lots of interesting exhibits. This one was a contest where kids hitched their ponies to a "sled" that pulled concrete blocks across the dirt:

Lots of gardening and flower contests:

Here's Beth and Greg, when we first arrived:

A biplane flew over the fair!  Maybe it was from the Rhinebeck Aerodrome over in New York???  I thought maybe, just maybe. (I'd been there as a kid and had taken Beth and her brothers there to watch the biplanes "dogfight" many years ago.)

 I was again reminded of Rhinebeck when I was leaving New York a couple of days later, by this advertisement for it at Laguardia Airport. . . .

Anyway, back on the ground. . . .  Plenty of Blue Ribbons in the exhibit halls at the fair:

This sand-sculpture had a lot of fans. The gal and guy were still in the process of building it.

Gorgeous gourds:

Mmmmmm.  Pie! Cake! Cookies! Cupcakes!

 And the Blue Ribbon for the Tallest Sunflower, goes to:

The "Rock Painting Contest" for kids in early elementary school grades was cute. I especially liked the "minions" one in the upper left corner of this photo AND the "hamster" one in the lower right corner here, too. . . .

Lotsa sheep. . . .

In that I'm known as BaBa to my grandsons, I felt like I fit right IN. . . .

Some prize-winners:

In another exhibition hall. . . .  Geese, ducks, and chickens:

. . . .and rabbits. . . .

Can't get them any fresher!

Hey grandson Teddy!  It's a Cowwwwwwah! (The Tedster has the most drawn-out pronunciation of the word COW that I have EVER heard!)

And that's no bull!

Judging time. . . .

Heee-Haw. Heee Haw!

Yes, morning beckons.  I will have to leave Connecticut on the 6:30am ferry back to Long Island tomorrow morning. We left the fair so that we could have dinner at Harry's - the local Burger Joint in Colchester that everyone loves - and so that I'd get back to Beth and Greg's with plenty of time to get a good night's rest.

Bye for now!  See ya in the morning!