Ramble On

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Page County Fair 2008 Part 2 and Final

While we are still getting to know our neighbors and make friends out in the Valley, the Page County Fair (and the Heritage Festival in October, and the Festival of Spring in May) makes for a great occasion to celebrate a lifestyle that is really growing on us. This is the last of two blog entries on the Fair.

There is plenty of livestock to be seen, as I shared yesterday. This year, I don’t have any of the prize-winning bulls or calves, but later when we are at the Fairgrounds for the Heritage Festival, I’ll take some photos of the sponsor boards and the sales records for the 4H-ers that compete raising these animals.
Here are some llamas, which lately have been showing up at the farms in the valley. While some breeds are prized for their fur, for the most part they share the pastures with flocks of sheep, where they are good guard animals.
It is pretty striking to see one or two of these taller animals out across a field. But whenever we drive by one, I can’t resist quoting Napoleon Dynamite, “Lucy! Come and get some ham! You fat pig!” (Not to disparage pigs-please don’t take offense-love the pigs).

Local businesses also show their wares at the Fair, and our friends from Uncle D’s had told us about their plans to have a booth in Page County and in Shenandoah County – a busy late summer few weeks. Here they are at the booth. Their first year has been very good, and Mary and I can attest to how great their work is…I’m planning to spend a good part of next week enjoying our pool in fact.

As the summer wanes, their business will turn to pool services and closings, and hot tubs. We’ve been thinking about this as a possible addition to our situation at the cabin – I’d like a sauna or hot tub out there, and was thinking about the benefits of wood-burning ones versus the conventional ones. I’m still tossed up about it, and of course, Uncle D has some great models to choose from. But it’s not highest on our list of Fall projects – at least not yet.

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