Not without some Craftiness...

I thought I'd put some pics of my recent domestic crafts...

Here is a necklace I put together from some beads I had from other projects...
And here is an apple strudel made with the first apples of the season from the farmers market!

Minnesota State Fair

Like a good Minnesotan, I made the pilgrimage to the annual Minnesota State Fair on Saturday. The fair grounds are in St. Paul and I took one of the buses that run nonstop during the two week affair. Now, I had been to the Texas State Fair one time but nothing prepared me for what I encountered today. Think a huge amusement park with rides and food stands every 5 feet (serving EVERYTHING on a stick- hot dogs on a stick, pickles on a stick, cheese on a stick, fried mashed potatoes on a stick, fried candy bars on a stick, meatballs on a stick, scotch eggs on a stick....) then throw in hundreds of domestic animals in every variety you can think of plus exhibits for every political candidate up for election in November as well as things like the Minnesota Alpaca Farmers Guild and the Minnesota Wild Rice Growers Association and you get a basic idea of what it was like.

I don't think I've ever seen more people- the day was gorgeous- not a cloud in the sky and a beautiful 78 degrees, which I'm sure contributed to the weekend crowd- here is a pic down just ONE of the streets of the fair grounds:

As I said before, there are all sorts of domestic animals including bunnies (isn't this the biggest lop eared bunny you've ever seen?):

And fancy pigeons- this one has curly feathers!:
There were tons of horses- big ones, small ones, Clydesdales, miniature... Also lots of cows- milk cows mostly, and sheep- black faced, white faced, HUGE ones, baby ones, horned ones.... Lots of chickens and ducks and turkeys....

I think the coolest thing was the birthing center though. They put all of the super pregnant animals in here and you can watch them give birth. I watched this HUGELY pregnant cow give birth and this little lamb was born earlier in the morning... There were also a litter of 12 piglets born today as well as hundreds of baby chicks of various breeds.
Now a bit about the food, I was told that I HAD to try fried cheese curds. Apparently these are a Minnesotan specialty not to be missed at the fair- they were actually quite good and were remarkably like little cheese sticks:
In addition, the original (and according to some, the only true) corn dog is a must have at the fair and so I had one:With mustard:It was, in all, an enlightening experience- this is only the first Saturday of the fair so we'll see if I make it again this year but I'll definitely be going back next year!

For Gram

I know you like my hair curly so here you go Gram!

Hair Cut

I've recently gotten my hair cut- it is super short but looks really cute. Here is a pic!

I'm going to the Minnesota State Fair this weekend- wish me luck!

Baby Gifts and Work Conferences

I spent last week in Carefree Arizona at the Carefree Resort for a work conference. It was a great conference and I made lots of connections and learned quite a bit. By the end of the meeting the younger attendees got a bit stir crazy and ventured out to "town" for dinner. We ate at a great Mexican restaurant and had some margaritas (prickly pear!!!). Here is a pic of our "escape" from the compound!

I also finished several baby projects while I was there. Here are pics of a few of them!

Brandy's Wedding

My cousin, Brandy, got married to Andrew this past weekend and I flew to Harrisburg/York PA for their wedding. I had a fantastic time (I think that we all had a fantastic time...) here are some pics!

Cake Smashing Time:

Brandy's New Veil:
Els and Andy:
Kelly and John
Marilyn and Gene
Mom and Dad:

Grams and Grandad:

Gwen's Many Choices:

For Chris:

Descending into the Depths of the Knitting Obsessed

It is official- I have gone off the deep end with the knitting.... There is a knitting group of young women who meet at a coffee shop just a block from my house on Wednesday evenings called the Knittinkittens. I went this past week and everyone is quite nice. I have also found a yarn store that is dangerous beyond belief for my checking account- Needlework Unlimited. In addition I have signed up for Ravelry- it's like Facebook for knitters. I'm currently on my third baby gift and watch out for those Christmas presents! There are great yarns and patterns for socks, hats and scarves (I'm not up for whole sweaters yet)!