Interesting People I Like to Spend Time With !

~~~I started my 3rd morning at the fair early as usual. We try to get to the fair at least 2 hours before the gates are open to the public. Today I brought #1 grandson to help. He loves the fair and has been coming to the fair with me since he was born. Here we are cleaning out one of our 3 sheep pens. The Doo Doo bin is behind him, for tossing the yucky hay and straw and manure into. ~~~~~~The most interesting people stop by to gawk at Goth and my 4 and 5 horned sheep. They talk to me, ask a lot of questions, and I also talk to them and ask a lot of questions. Lately I have grown bold enough to ask them to pose for pictures. I always ask if I can post their pictures too, so all pictures were approved by the people shown below. ~~~The gentleman below is Mr. Vaughn Hickman. He MADE this most beautiful leather coat. It is made of elk hide....very , very soft elk hide that was softer than the most luxurious velvets. He also beaded the design. The beads are glass...~~~ ~~~LOOK at this art and craftmanship. The design is hand beaded all over with glass beads. The fringe has beads with horsehair and bison hair distributed throughout. ~~~

~~~Here is a close-up of the buttons, bison horn buttons ! ~~~

~~~This is the beaded pocket. Mr. Hickman also fully lined the coat and said it took more than 6 years for him to make...it is far more beautiful than my pictures can capture and really should be hanging behind glass. ~~~ ~~~This gentleman is also very interesting. He is an artist. A REAL artist. His name is Kenneth J. Hurley and he does Western and Wildlife art...beautiful. Real art ! And wouldn't you know, he is with ... ~~~The sister of a neighbor and friend of ours from our old neighborhood. So I get to talk to him and visit with our old ( not old as in age ) neighbor ! I have so much fun at the fair and get to see people I haven't seen for years and people I would never meet if I did not come to the fair ! ~~~ ~~~And there are our fair friends we see every year. We form a sort of bond. Here Is Deanne . She and John and Stormy her father have Zebras, a Zedonk, yaks, Watusi cattle and reindeer. I get to sit directly across from them for 5 days and watch the animals, and watch them feed the animals. I get to pet and touch and sometimes feed the animals myself. This is a true privilege people ! I am so grateful . And the people are nice besides. Always a bonus you know. ( and you know, Goth does have a crush on the reindeer)

~~~Here Deanne is letting a little friend of ours feed...~~~

~~~~This little guy, Chili, an African Watusi steer. ~~~

~~~And another little friend gets to bottle feed Chili too. ~~~

~~~I love the fair. It really is fun and maybe in my life, 'EPIC" fits the descriptive bill.~~~