Are you ready for the Fair?!

Yep - it's that time of year again - the great New York State Fair!  I took a day off work and went up with a friend.

We watched some of the 4H judging:

and some of the horse-jumping competition:

We fed the giraffes:

We saw the Birds of Prey exhibit:

Lunch was pulled pork and sausage sandwiches:

We gawked at birds and they gawked back:

We saw lambs with coats on:

And we wrapped up the day with an aerial tram ride that took us up and over the midway:

According to Patti's fitbit, we walked just over seven miles, and it was worth every step.   Another perfect day at the Fair. :)

Vacation, all I ever dreamed of

I've been on vacation for the last week and a half, and it's been awesome!  Beautiful weather.  God, I love summertime.

I dressed Good Boy up for the Fourth, because there's nothing better than a cat who will let you outfit him ridiculously:

Went to the Cornell Botanical Gardens for a day that was hot and humid and almost melted me:

Thank you Ginny for the new lawn art!:

The turk's cap lilies in my own garden aren't blooming yet, but I was lucky enough to find some wild ones to photograph:

Here I am at the Rockwell Museum in Corning, posing in front of a picture I absolutely painted myself using a Bob Ross video:

I walked a lot of waterfalls:

What's this?  Looks like Foster Camp is back in session!  

That is a potato chip in his carrier. Because people are dipshits.

And then there were two:

You'd better believe there was lots of paddling:

and snakes!

What a great time.  And the State Fair is just around the corner!   Summer is the best.

The Fair, you guys! THE FAAAIIIIIR!!!

The Saga of the Sausage

  Last summer when I was on vacation, I bought a little portable charcoal grill, thinking I'd like to do some cooking out.

I took the grill home, opened up the box, took one look at the instructions, and put the grill, the charcoal, and the lighter fluid in the shed.  Ain't NOBODY got time for that.

Today, a year later, I decided I was ready to face the Charcoal Grill Challenge.  I grabbed the grill, the charcoal, and the lighter fluid BACK out of the shed, evicted the mouse who was living in the box the grill came in (don't worry, I put him right back in the shed to find more suitable living quarters amid the innumerable other boxes of stuff in there), and got to work.

Thank you.  Thankyouverymuch.

State! Fair!

Yes, back pain or no back pain, there was no way in HELL I was going to miss the Fair.  So I grabbed a partner in crime and off we went.  This is my peril pal Laurie:

The first surprise came when we got to the gate and discovered they were letting everyone in for FREE for the first hour.  Yippee!

We saw the Birds of Prey show:

 The same girl pictured doing the bird show was ALSO doing the wild cat show that we saw later on.  She was a busy woman!

We admired the cool buildings:

Watched the contest judging:

and struck silly poses with giant farm animals:

 (yes, I do wear a fanny pack.  When I go to the Fair, I wear a fanny pack.  SHUT IT. ha)

Check out the horns on THIS fella:

 

I LOVE the quilt contest.  This quilt was all cats:

 

The sand sculpture was a work in progress:

We watched the wild cat show, which was interesting because all of the animals in it had been rescued from untenable conditions.  The Hawk Creek Wildlife Center was using the animals to get the word out about helping the ones still in the wild.  Someone had been trying to keep this serval as a housepet - it didn't go well.  Now it lives in a wild animal sanctuary with several serval buddies. 

 

All in all, it was a great day at the Fair, and I might even go back again if my back holds up!  Good times.

Vacation, the rest of it, really I mean it this time

Let's see.  I taught a friend how to paddle:

 Did some hiking:

 Took lots of wildlife pics:

 OMG look!  The heron is eating the goose's head!:

paddled and paddled and paddled some more:

Took yet more pics:

 And, of course, spent a lot of time with these guys:

There was also a lot of beer drinking and soft-serve eating mixed in with all that.  A very good week, overall!