Yes, it's that time of year!

Down here in the southeast fair time has just begun. We are later in the year than most fairs. Our North Carolina Mountain State Fair began on September 11th and runs through September 20th.

We have been busy getting 8 of our spring fleeces ready to show on the 19th. Skirting and picking out hay as well as any 2nd cuts is always time consuming. My husband I found that in the morning under the shade of the Bradford pear trees works the best.

At our fair you only have to have your fleece in a clear bag. Nothing is to be washed, tied or tagged. Our judge this year likes to have the fleeces rolled as you see below. She usually mentions that she likes how we present them. Not everyone does it this way.

Susan McFarland will be judging all of the wool sheep shows this year.

This is Amelia Earhart's lamb's fleece. She is a fawn katmoget. (picture directly above and below) We store our fleeces in banana boxes until show time. This allows them to breathe.

We spent yesterday at the fair because when we are there this coming weekend there won't be a lot of time outside the barn. This year there will be more time as both Katie and Lauren have aged out of the junior show which means that we can only show in the open show on Sunday.

Katie is a park ranger at the Carl Sandburg Home National Historic Site 2 1/2 days a week while she is in school. She was officially working at the dairy goat show Friday night and Saturday afternoon. Each summer children volunteer with the goats at the Carl Sandburg Home. A few then show the goat kids at the fair. Katie and Lauren were both volunteers for many summers and showed the goats. That is how Katie was able to get her job now that she is in college. It's amazing to remember her dressed in all white showing dairy goats and now dressed in the green and grey uniform of the national park service. Who would have ever imagined!?

Anyway...Rothey and I watched the steer show, some clogging, checked on the crafts we entered, watched some of the goat show (Nigerian dwarfs are my favorite--colored up like some of our Shetlands), ate Dippin' Dots, walked through the heritage craft building, checked out the market sheep (we remember those days), saw tractors ready for the tractor pull, saw lots of llamas, Brahman cattle, and more. We went home hot and tired!

Katie and I entered only a few things this year. We were reminiscing about ALL the stuff we entered when they were little--pumpkins, gourds, potatoes, decorated pumpkins, shoebox floats, pictures painted and taken, cookies, etc.

Katie placed 2nd with a black and white picture of 2 of the Carl Sandburg goat kids.

I entered 2 skeins of Shetland yarn and 1 of mixed fiber yarn. I also entered my shawl from an earlier post made from the wool of 3 of our bottle babies.

I was tickled with this first place for my Shetland yarn. I finished it the day before we turned them in. This was roving just sent back from Frankenmuth Woolen Mill. It was frosted roving using Annie and Maisie, a mother-daughter pair. We will have more of our roving "frosted" in the future.

This 2nd place yarn was from a mix I bought last year at the Southeastern Animal Fiber Fair. It was called Razzle Dazzle and was made of Romney, Romendale Cross, viscose, Tussah silk and silk noil. This was fun to spin.

My shawl placed 3rd in the handwoven accessories category. This shawl contains lamb's fleece from Padgett, Sarah, and Almond Joy, 3 bottle lambs. It definitely reminds me of some wonderful times of raising bottle lambs--sleep deprived nights too!!

So, Friday, the 18th, we load up and head to the fair. We look forward to this time of getting together with the great friends we have made through 4-H. Most of our kids are grown or almost grown but we get to share these 3 days together again!