"It is well to remember that the entire population of the universe, with one trifling exception, is composed of others." A.Holmes

Tuesday, October 2, 2012

Morning ! ( Before the fair opens)

 Before the fair gates open, before Goth is surrounded by people taking his picture and also enjoying so many other animals, the 'Animals Of the World Barn' is busy preparing the day to greet the public.
Our granddaughter KN is spending her first time with myself and her brother for a week at the fair.She chose to spend her birthday with us here and I am thankful for this.
 A blur of activity and work. The mornings before the fair begins, each barn is busy being cleaned by the exhibitors. We know and appreciate our time in the barn to be available to exhibit the animals we love is a privilege. We start the day early, cleaning our animal pens and making sure they are presentable to the public. Hoping our exhibit is pleasing and also a good presentation for our animals and the fair. After all, that is why we are here, for you!
 KN is camera shy, but allowed me to take this picture of her. My beloved granddaughter is growing up so quickly, and for her to choose to spend her birthday with me and my sheep at the fair means more to me than I can express.She worked hard here, and there was no birthday cake & ice cream, but she seemed to be O.K. with that.
Early morning pictures of our barn. The exhibitors are slowly arriving, quickly cleaning. After our areas are clean and ready for the public, we have our doughnut & coffee break. We visit, we share, we learn about each other's animals.We become friends and begin to care about one another. We hope to see each other next year.
A special benefit of being here is the opportunity to see animals not common to so many. We get to watch camels, zebras, yaks, zedonks,Watusi,and so many other animals show their personalities. This camel was spotted by me reaching his tongue out beyond his pen to gain hay. He would also watch me closely and follow me as I worked. When I got my camera to snap photos he seemed to become very savvy and camera-shy. He would duck, dodge, and hide when my camera was seen. This is the best photo I have of him. When I put my camera away he was  in my face!
Brother and sister, grandchildren I love. A pleasure to be able to camp with them here at the fair, a pleasure to have them here to help me. A family tradition I hope they will remember with love and maybe continue.Even better, that they might love Jacob Sheep. A grandma can hope!

5 comments:

Timi said...

It's so good to see how they enjoy helping you!!! I am sure they will love Jacob sheep, too :o)!

Connie said...

Happy belated birthday to your granddaughter. How sweet that she chose to spend the day with you. I think it would be neat to get to see all those different types of animals.

KathyB. said...

Timi, I hope you're right!

Daisy,the animals in this barn are very interesting, and being able to talk to the people the animals live with is wonderful, because you can tell they are excited about their animals and offer information you might not ordinarily hear. Plus, stories about life with the animals. Often very cute & funny.

Oregon Gifts of Comfort and Joy said...

I can tell how much this time together has meant to all of you. How neat that there is a separate area for "Animals of the World". I haven't seen that before, but I haven't been to a fair in years.

Happy Birthday to your favorite fair helper girl!

Kathy M.

Thistle Cove Farm said...

Kathy, lovely grandchildren and so glad they spent time with you. Those memories will last their lifetime.