Big Tex
We came. We saw. We ate our way through the Fair.
The State Fair of Texas is tremendously huge. It spans 277 acres and we spent five hours going from one end to the other. We used to attend the smaller South Texas State Fair when we lived in east Texas. In many ways I liked it better. It was smaller, but that made it intimate and friendly.
The State Fair of Texas is a massive complex of checks and balances to make sure everyone stays safe and has a good time. There is a lot of police presence. There was a sunscreen station that gave you squirts of sunscreen and plenty of waterless hand sanitizer stations for when you finish petting the animals. There are entire buildings set aside for lost kids, baby care, and first aid.
There’s a car show in Dallas every year, but you can see the new rides here too. They were awfully pretty! Greg kept sitting in all these different cars and trucks to see how they felt. I tried a few too. Very tempting.
There’s a building set aside for arts and crafts. Although they have their own building, it seems like a token tribute, a nod to how fairs used to be in the old days.
Nowadays, it’s the vendors who get center stage and they hawk their wares as loudly as carnies hawk their games. They tried to sell us everything from mattresses, to hot tubs, to insoles.
We don’t do rides anymore. Most rides give me whiplash, so I gave it up. I’d rather walk around and see the animals anyway.
The most impressive animals are definitely the Budweiser Clydesdales. I barely come up to their thighs. It’s hard to imagine such a gigantic beast unless you see them in the flesh. Pictures don’t do them justice. This year they were in their own private stalls. The last time I saw them they had a community stall. They’re put into harness and driven once a day, but we missed that. Darn!
There’s also Big Tex, the Fair’s mascot. He talks and moves his head and arms, welcoming visitors all day long and making announcements. Big Tex is 55 feet tall and weighs 25,000 pounds. He’s pretty awesome to see in real life, but a little creepy looking in my opinion. People love him out of sense of nostalgia.
I think the only reason Greg agrees to go to the fair is for the food. I’m not a fair food connoisseur like Greg. I’m happy with corn on the cob, though this year they had a fantastic Greek salad. It was delicious! Greg went for the giant turkey leg.
Prices were astronomical for everything: parking, entrance, food, and rides. Luckily a friend gave us free tickets to enter the fair grounds. I don’t see how families can afford to go. You could easily spend a couple of hundred dollars for food and rides.
We were worn out by the end, but it was a good time. Once a year it’s good to walk around, eat Fair food, and look at animals I don’t have to feed, and pens I don’t have to clean.
If you’ve been to a fair, what was yours like? I’ve only ever been to the ones in Texas. Someday I’d like to try others.
You can click on each thumbnail for a larger view. Some of the shots are a little overexposed because of the time of day, but I did the best I could. Unfortunately, I wasn’t fast enough to take a picture of Greg’s turkey leg. By the time I thought of it, he’d already finished! Never get between a man and his turkey leg.
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If you have a big garden or a big family, go with a larger dehydrator, otherwise you’ll have that machine running for days at a time. This is the Excalibur 2900ECB. Within my circle of gardeners and cooks, this brand is the hand’s down favorite. 
If you don’t need something this big, try the Nesco Snackmaster. It’s just the right size for people who won’t do a ton of drying but still wants to do jerky or fruit leathers.
The reason I’ve never done it is because you have to make sure no insects can get inside your drying trays. I’m real touchy about this which is why I prefer to stick to the machine.
They were absolutely delicious. Greg wanted more but I only planted a few token green bean plants. Next year, I’m doing a big bed of them.
Can I add that one of the best presents I bought myself was the Roomba? I got the Roomba 880, and I have run it everyday and sometimes twice a day since I got it. I love my Roomba. Even Greg loves it. It’s one less daily chore off our list, plus it cleans under the beds, something I was never able to do before.
wing a winter garden but nothing taxing, mostly greens and the brassicas. The garden did great this year, but it came to an abrupt and inglorious end when deer figured out how to go around the iris barrier to get to my soybeans, strawberries, greens, and beans.
mething new comes up to test my mettle.
lot of stock last year. I can’t even imagine stealing someone’s livelihood. That’s beyond despicable.
om the BBC News shocking and painful. I had mentioned in an earlier post about 
I was browsing through Amazon Prime’s movie list and came across Pioneer Quest. It’s an old documentary/reality show shot in Canada in 2000. The producers screened thousands of people who applied to live one year in the Canadian ‘wilderness’ as people would’ve lived in the 1870s. Two couples were chosen. If they could make it a year, each couple would receive $100,000 Can.
These are Nubians. We bought these girls yesterday from a goat dairy farm. Supposedly their moms are good milkers. (But then what else would a seller say, right?)
Despite the heat, the homestead goes on. The garden is nearly spent except for the hardiest of vegetables–the ones not tasty to deer, rabbits and raccoons. Here’s the rundown.
walkways. The walkways are a slow process. My plan is to eventually accumulate enough brick to cover the walkways.
We did have a terrible murder in the chicken coop just the other day. We found one hen gutted. At first we thought it strange because a raccoon or possum would’ve eaten the whole chicken. This poor thing was simply murdered and disemboweled, that’s when we found evidence of a different predator in the coop.
We are babysitting Ozzy (my dog godchild) until after the holidays. We also have friends spending a few days with us next weekend. I’m going to have to mind my culinary Ps and Qs while they’re here. Beth is a phenomenal cook and baker, and I pale by comparison.
Critters: I think the chickens are gunning for me too. Yesterday one of them made a break for it, but it didn’t get far. Nana, (the border collie who wants to rule the world) cut her off at the pass and herded her back to the pen.
