What a day! I spent the entire morning doing all the little details to finish Fair projects. Finally at about 12:30 Mom and I set out for Centreville. Today was a "free" day at the fair and so there were lots more people than usual. We could have parked inside, but the parking lots were quite full. I told Mom to go park at our old house and I'd carry my stuff in. First was the flower arrangement I had just finished--a nearly identical arrangement to the one I made a few years ago that dried up. You will never guess what happened---well, maybe you will. Yes, I used the wrong foam again. I could have promised you I had purchased the correct stuff. I wondered why it wasn't soaking up the water, but I thought it just needed a little more time. Here I was building a beautiful arrangement using nearly all the flowers left in my garden only to make the EXACT SAME MISTAKE AGAIN!!!!! (Clint's cousin in the flower judge--oh, how embarrassing!)
When I got there I had to walk quite a ways to the building where the flowers are housed. The wind was brisk and I feared for my arrangement. People passing me were commenting on how pretty it was. Got it into the barn and asked to water it. I noticed some of the flowers were starting to droop. I got it all entered and moved on to make another trip to the car for the second load of items. After I got all done I took Clint's camera back to take a picture of the arrangement because I knew by the end of the week it would be a goner even with everything done correctly. A new gal was in the barn and she mentioned to me that I had used the wrong foam! The flowers were starting to droop again! Tomorrow is the judging and there's only a shred of hope that it will still look even decent by then. We learn from our mistakes and some of us have to make the same mistakes twice! It made me think over and over today how thankful I am that the Lord looks at us through eyes of mercy and His judgement on us was paid for by Jesus. We are free from a judge looking at us and inspecting every detail.
Because the premium books are costly to print, the Fair quit sending them out a few years ago. You can get them online. I didn't bother thinking I have nearly memorized the book. That was until I tried to enter the jelly today! For some strange reason, you are supposed to bring 3 jars. I brought only one. They coaxed me to leave it anyway, but I know it will be disqualified because it doesn't meet the requirement. Another lesson learned--read the book! You can make all the necessary spritutal applications on that one without me even embellishing!
Did get the antique fan card holder entered although since we didn't know the age and there was no real category for it, they put in the WW1 items since the cards were great examples of that era. Ok, there.
I did try to check the premium book online for this next item, only I coudln't find the entry I was familiar with. This was the category I usually put my pressed flower pics in. I thought I remembered that you needed two pictures and there were two divisions for different sizes. So this morning I put two more pics together, this time very modern looking done on my homemade recycled paper complete with pressed butterflies. Way cool! Got there only to find out that there is only one category and now I have two sets of pics. They said it was ok to enter them both and I'd just be competing against myself! Well, why not?! Again, it pays to read the book!
Got down to the needlework building and started getting all the stuff out. Alpaca shawl, tatted cross, 70's dress, felted handbag and I realized something. The 70's dress had some threads that needed to be clipped. The more I looked at it (and some of my other stuff), the more I realized that I am a "cobbler." I doubt it will place very highly if at all. I have always "made do" with whatever I have. I will not go buy new matching thread if I have a whole drawer full and can "make do." I did that on this dress. Same with the handbag, it's made of leftover ancient wool yarn. If I didn't have what I needed, I used something else. In this economy, that's a very good quality to possess--but maybe not for entering to win prizes! Spiritual lesson: second best will not work in getting to heaven. You must have the "real thing," you must enter by the narrow way or not at all! Jesus is THE WAY, THE TRUTH, AND THE LIFE. Not A way, or A truth, or A life. You either accept His way of salvation or you'll have none at all.
I do have hight hopes for the tatted cross and some of the other knitted items. Maybe even the postcards and pressed flower pictures, but we'll keep you posted! Highlights of the day--Clint bought me a really nice pair of cowboy boots at the fair tonight! They are of the same style as a REALLY, REALLY, REALLY EXPENSIVE pair I happened to find in Nashville. I liked them so well, but knew those would never be mine. These will do just fine and I can't wait to wear them with a nice ruffled skirt. Plus we got to really enjoy Emma. Animals are a big thing to her--books, toys, etc. She even makes many of the animal sounds if you ask her. So taking her through the barns to actually see and hear all the animals was great fun. Her eyes were big as saucers and when she had heard the cows bellow enough, she looked a bit apprehensive and said to us, "All done," which translates to, "I'm ready to move on!"Blessings, LORI
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