Goth-Gawking

I took this picture late this afternoon. It is my old ram Goth who spent a week of his life almost every year at the Western Washington State Fair in the Animals of the World barn . Our exhibit was directly across the aisle from the zebras, zee-donks, yaks, and reindeer. Many thousands of people saw him and stared at him over the years and I watched hundreds of people photograph him.

Now that we've relocated to the other side of the mountains Goth is retired and enjoying life in a pasture situated in front of our new home. The gravel road that fronts our property is actually a well traveled road between our home and the hills and mountains across the road. Often I discover a vehicle parked in front of our place and see , yes, people gawking at Goth ! Goth still attracts attention even in his old age. ( Goth is 13 years old.) I hope he lives for many more years, I am quite fond of this old ram.

Bath Time For Goth ( A Jacob Sheep )

 Baaa huh ? Bath ? For me ? I had a bath last year before the State Fair. I don't need another bath...

 .... oh, I guess I'm going to the fair again this year.

 Does this mean I get to eat all the alfalfa hay I desire, snack on soda crackers and apples, and watch thousands of people walk by ? Some of those people are pretty funny looking and a lot of them take my picture.

O.K. then , off to the fair we'll go ! I hope my friends are there. I love the yaks, watusi cattle, zebras and turkeys . Those little donkeys are pretty cute too and they make a loud funny noise. Do you think any of the reindeer will be back ? I loved that little reindeer. ME : " Yes, we'll be off to the fair and most of your friends will be back. Many of my friends will too ! "

Goth got his bath and looks like the black and white sheep he is instead of a brown and beige sheep. If you're in the area please visit us at the Washington State Fair in the Animals Of The World exhibit  from September 11 thru September 15 in Puyallup, WA. Goth will be in my exhibit along with 3 more Jacob Sheep from my flock. We're looking forward to our time there and maybe we'll see you at The Puyallup Fair !

Ummm, how's this for a striking pose ?

Western Washington Fair 2014 ( Puyallup Fair )

This year's state fair has come and gone in a whirlwind of activity and busyness that still has my head spinning. I could not have enjoyed the time there without the help of 2 of my grandchildren and my husband. The Western Washington Fair formerly known as The Puyallup Fair is one of the biggest state fairs in the nation. Literally thousands of people passed by my exhibit in the 'Animals Of The World ' barn and my husband and oldest grandson were often answering questions regarding my Jacob sheep , giving me a break.

We set up our exhibit the day before the fair opened. It takes planning and preparation to set up a fair exhibit, and also packing for the whole week I and my grandchildren will be camping at the fair. Here is my husband standing next to my ram pen. Yes, my ram ( not my husband ) is dangerous.

My ram's name is Goth , here is part of my display. The rugs shown were crafted by me using the wool of my sheep. You can also see a Jacob sheep skull and hide on the wall.

We cart the blue "walls' in too, giving the display a border and a place to hang up info regarding the breed of sheep.

This is the back of the display. Usually my exhibit is placed in the middle of the big barn so we created the walls as a way to also define the space visually.This also gives us a little bit of privacy since we are open to the public from 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. for five days and nights. With record breaking attendance at the fair this year we often had so many people passing though our barn there was no room for us to get out of our exhibit. At least there was an interesting animal to view pretty much everywhere in the barn for those stuck walking at a snail's pace because of the crowd. ( That is one of my granddaughters above. She was a big help this year )

Goth doesn't seem to mind the crowds and must have had his picture snapped thousands of times over the years. He does play with the big rubber ball while at the fair, and enjoys soda crackers and apples as frequent treats for being good.

A partial view of  the aisles filled with people. This is what Saturday & Sunday look like until after 7:00 p.m. A non-stop flow of people viewing the animals . We are very happy and honored to be able to exhibit our sheep here and love answering questions about them , and we do get a lot of questions !

The table in front of my exhibit contains wool, horns, things made from the fiber of my sheep. All hands-on for the public.

All's quiet before the barn is open to the public. We get there at least an hour before they're open so we can clean the animal's stalls , feed & water them, and prepare for the day.

The sheep on the other side of my display. I keep the ram separate from the girl sheep & their lambs. Yes, the girl Jacob Sheep have horns too.

My best help comes from our oldest grandson. I really don't think I could do this anymore without him, so thank-you C.T. ! This was a great year at the fair and we're hoping to be asked back again next year.