Saturday, August 11, 2018

My Last Sunday "Off" For A While

It's hard to believe that it's Saturday already, although for most of my friends and readers, it's just another weekend. For me, today is just one more day of work before I have a day off to share with DH. I think we've got quite a lot planned for Sunday with at least one trip to the compost lot with brush that DH has been stacking up. But he also said he worked hard to keep our Sunday labor less intense than it has been over the past few weeks. If that's the case, I'm quite grateful. 




The front gates of Renaissance Festival aren't in pristine
condition any more, but we'll be moving to a new
location within another two--three years. I'm not
exactly sure when the move will take place, but
know that land has finally been purchased. 



Next weekend is opening weekend for Renaissance Festival so we'll be out there, wandering the grounds and seeing what's new. I doubt we'll go every weekend as we have in past years, there's still a lot that needs to get completed in the backyard this year. Still, we have season tickets for Ren Fest, so when we decide we want to go, it's no problem to toss the parasol into the car and head on out. 




There's nothing like the Minnesota State Fair. I have to purchase
my advanced admission tickets and Blue Book coupon books
on Wednesday. Guess I'd better start getting a firm count on
how many tickets I'm going to need this year. 



Tomorrow I also need to drop my entry off at the State Fair. I've been rather closed-mouthed about the fact that I was putting a beaded piece into the Fair because so many of my customers also enter beading and they seem to be intimidated that I would be putting in a piece also. I very much doubt that I'll win any ribbons or awards - it's nothing really special, just something that I had fun making and thought "What the heck". 

But it's been years since I last entered anything. In fact, it's been years since I picked up a needle and beads to make something. I use thread and needles all the time for repairs and restrings for customers, but I haven't actually made something beaded for myself for more than five years. It was refreshing to return to my creative roots and deal with small pieces of color at the end of my needle. 




The Fair judges thousands of entries in hundreds of
categories each year. County fair winners are automatically
invited to exhibit at the State Fair, but the competition is
stiff, especially in popular categories such as quilting and
baked goods. 



Check-in procedures for the State Fair have changed a lot since the last time I entered. Everything is pre-checked in through the website and no walk-up entries are allowed. I still remember how excited I was when I entered for the first time - joining a long line of people and dropping off a beaded cabochon necklace. I'm pretty sure I won a ribbon for that one. It's one of the cluster of blue, red and white ribbons pinned to my wall in the computer room. I've had pieces I thought should have won an award that didn't, and others which were awarded a ribbon when I thought they probably wouldn't. This year I'm not expecting any ribbon but I'm giving myself a pat on the back for finally entering another item into the exhibit. 

So it will be a busy Sunday and next week will be a busy one too, but it's all good. I enjoy being busy because otherwise time is too boring and I'm burying my head in an ebook instead of eagerly examining the world around me. Have a great weekend and I'll be back on Monday. 




No comments: