Lumberjack Days and the Clearwater County Fair

This year was the 100th anniversary of Lumberjack Days in Orofino, Idaho.  I was lucky enough to be able to go and enjoy the festivities on Saturday with my mom, brother and his family.  First of all, let me tell you that Lumberjack Days is free!  You can look at the animals, the preserving and craft exhibits and watch the horse pull all for free!  There are also rides there - they must be paid for obviously.  However, I didn't go to ride the rides.

Remember the Spokane County Fair I told you about here and the utter lack of animal exhibits.  Well once again a very small county fair had more animals!  Clearwater County has a small population.  I was so pleasantly surprised with some of the heritage breeds that were represented at the fair.  I know the Tamworth is crossed, but it is the first fair I have been to that the breed was even represented.

Nigerian Dwarfs

Tamworth - York Cross

Tamworth - York Cross on the Right

Midget White Turkeys (they were camera shy)

The really cool thing was the Horse Pull though.  These big draft horses pulled more than their weight easily.  The top heavy weight team (the two horses weighed approximately 4,200 lbs) pulled 6,500 pounds to win the competition.  It was really a very neat experience.  I would highly recommend attending a horse pull if you have a chance!

One of the Light Weight Teams

One of the Medium Weight Teams

I am sharing this post at the Homestead Barn Hop.

The Spokane County Fair

Remember how I told you I didn't like the crap involved with the big fancy, smanchy fairs?  Well, I have official proof of the lameness of the big "fairs."  I was listening to my favorite country station early last week and they were giving away tickets to the fair and rodeo in Spokane and a free pizza.  I called in because I wanted to go to the rodeo and low and behold, I was caller nine.  Radio DJ:  You're caller 9!  Me:  What!  I'm caller #9!  (all in a high pitched scream)  DJ:  You're going to the rodeo and we have fair tickets for you and we're giving you a free pizza!  Me:  SCREAMING!  (I am soooo one of those people that the radio folks love winning!  I scream and squeal and between you and me it is a good thing I was parked at the mailbox or there could have been some crazy driving!)  Me:  Oh my gosh!  I love you guys!  You are my favorite radio station (no prompting needed)!  DJ:  Thanks for listening and we love you too!

This is the first time I have ever won anything on the radio.  I was beside myself!  I called Jerry and was screaming/squealing for him to turn on my favorite radio station (not his favorite by the way).  He was somewhat annoyed with my exuberance but turned it on just in time to hear the play back of me.  As I have mentioned before, Jerry doesn't really like the rodeo and fair as much as I do - but the free pizza was right up his alley!  So Friday afternoon came around and we had to go to the radio station in Spokane to pickup the tickets.  They closed at 5 p.m.  Now Jerry and I live in a fairly rural area.  We aren't used to "big" city traffic.  We left in what we thought would give us plenty of time to get to the station.  However, we didn't take into account the fact that A) neither of us are very familiar with Spokane and B) there is traffic there around 5 o'clock.  Well, we made it there at 4:55 p.m. and got the tickets and the free pizza.  WHEW!  

We got to the fairground, got parked and went in the gates.  I saw an A&W and Ivars and a sub shop.  This is when I knew I wasn't going to be impressed.  Fair food is supposed to be made by grandmas and Kiwanis people and 4H moms.  We did manage to find a Kiwanis Long Horn BBQ booth where we ate.  Then we went to check out the livestock exhibits.  I have never been so disappointed in my life.  There were maybe 25 hogs, 50 poultry exhibits, 40 goats - well you get the picture.  Here is this huge fair - with no animals.  My little county fair in Bonner county had more animals!   There were sooooo many empty cages and stalls.  It makes me sad to see that people care more about the commercial aspect than what a fair is truly meant for.  (Please note:  I did speak with a nice lady in the preserves area who knew her stuff and we had a very nice conversation about canning and freezing salsa.)  

The one really cool thing there at the fair was in the cattle barn.  There were Highland Cattle.  I really love this breed and am working on trying to convince my dad (an angus/limousine man) and my husband (a not-gonna-argue-with-dad kind of man) to give this breed a shot. 

Highland Cattle

After the disappointing walk through the livestock barns we went to grab our seats for the rodeo, which were fabulous seats!  The arena at the Spokane Fair grounds is surrounded by rail yards.  Pretty great back drop...  Especially when you consider the arena at the Bonner county fair is surrounded by huge pine trees and has the foothills of Schweitzer mountain as a backdrop.  Much more to my liking.  All in all - Jerry and I had a wonderful time together.  I am very thankful to my favorite radio station for the tickets and the free pizza!  I will tell you this though - if I had paid to go to this fair, because it was not cheap for the fair and the rodeo, I would have been very upset by the contents.

I am sharing the post at the Homestead Barn Hop.

Beans, Beans, Beans

My garden has been far from stellar this year.  As a matter of fact, it has been darn near disappointing.  We had no spring and summer didn't start until mid-July.  Like I said, very disappointing....  And to top it all off, now that some things are getting close to being ready to harvest (like beans) we are nearing freezing temperatures at night.  Luckily, my parents live in a less harsh climate and there garden is doing beautifully!!  So this weekend, I went to visit and help with the canning.  And boy oh boy did we can!

My mom and dad grow bush and pole beans and they were full!  Here is a picture of one of their three gardens.  Isn't it beautiful! 

I Have Garden Envy!

Once the beans were picked and snapped we put them in the sink and rinsed them three times before putting them in the jars.

A Sink Full of Beans

Once in the jars, a teaspoon of salt is added and then they are filled with hot water.

Salt Please

The lids and rings are put on to hand tightness.

Ready for the Canner

The beans are processed for 25 minutes at 10 pounds of pressure.  We had so many beans we got two canners going!

Two Canners Are Better Than One!

A Job Well Done

Several hours later and into the middle of the night we had 22 quarts and 1 pint.  And do you want to know what the absolute best sound to hear at night while you are sleeping is?  The pop of a jar sealing!

Blue 2, Red 1

For the first time ever I entered some things in the fair.  For those fair veterans out there, please don't laugh.  I entered 3 things:  duck eggs, chicken eggs and a jar of zucchini relish that I told you about here.  And guess what??  This first timer didn't do to shabby!  I got blue ribbons for both sets of eggs and a red ribbon for my zucchini relish.  Wowza!  I could barely contain myself when I saw the ribbons!  There I was, a grown woman, acting very similar to a four year old with a new barbie.  But I didn't care - I was wrapped up in the moment.  I just about squeezed all the air out of Jerry, did some serious jumping and high-fiving and talked about the fair non-stop for the next four days!  (Jerry is really hoping that once I get this posted I will move on to something else - little does he know my plans are on to what I am going to enter next year!)

There is nothing quite like a true county fair.  And when I say true - I mean a fair that is not all about rides and booths and carnival crap.  It is about the animals and the cooking and the crafts!  I am so lucky to live in a county that has a fabulous fair.  County fairs offer all American fun and that, my friends, is a beautiful thing.

My ribbons and dough from the fair!

The Rodeo

I have never been to a rodeo.  Funny right?  I grew up in rural Idaho my whole life and never.  My mom claims this is not true - and she could be right.  Let me restate that.  I do not remember going to a rodeo.  So the Bonner County Rodeo was this weekend and I just had to go.  Jerry, who has been to many rodeos and is not particularly fond of them, was not quite as enthused as I was and could have almost been annoyed with my continuous jabber about the rodeo (I must be dreaming, how could Jerry get annoyed with me?).  But he took me anyways. 

We arrived and walked around looking at the horses.  Once inside the outdoor arena we went to the very top of the grand stands to sit.  Jerry had the BBQ ribs and I had a hamburger.  Here I am before the rodeo started - very excited.  Jerry was making fun of me because I asked him to take my picture.

Happy Me

In retaliation, because I am extremely mature, I took this picture of him. He even smiled - which is amazing in a picture - it never happens!

My handsome man

Here are the few pictures I was able to get of the rodeo.  I did not consider that the top of the grand stands would not be a good place to take pictures from.

The rodeo was fantastic!  It was good ol' all American fun!  I hope to do for many years to come!!

Zucchini Relish

Well - I had all these zucchini's more than I knew what to do with - which is wonderful because that is when I make zucchini relish!  And it is a darn good thing I did make it - because my plants have dried up - no more zucchini for me :-(  But I did get the one canning of relish in this year and for that I am very thankful!

I started out with several beautiful zucchini's (including one eight ball zucchini).  I needed 12 cups diced for the recipe and it was going to be really close.  I ended up not having 12 cups, only 10.  I adjusted the recipe with my handy-dandy calculator - Jerry.  He has a math mind - it is fabulous.  Math is one of those things that really shows how women and men think differently.  To Jerry it was simple - 80% of the original recipe.  To me, well let's just say it wasn't simple.  I liked his 80% - especially if he would calculate it for me:-)   I got my 3 cups of peppers and 3 cups of onions diced up using the wonderful attachment I have for my kitchenaid and then added salt.

Doesn't it look beautiful

The mixture sat over night and in the morning I rinsed the salt from the mixture.

Rinsing

Then I added the vinegar, sugar and spices and put it on the stove to start heating up.

Adding flavor

Once it got to a rolling boil, 20 minutes.  And bam - done.

Ready for jars!

Ladle into jars, wipe the rims, put the lids on, screw the rings on and good!  Fabulous and easy!  So I entered a jar in the fair - I will let you know how it turns out.  I could be a blue ribbon winner you know!!

The fruits of the labor

This zucchini relish is fabulous on soup beans, hot dogs, hamburgers....

I am sharing this post at the Homestead Barn Hop

Bath Time!

For the last couple of days I have been meaning to give Stella a bath.  She got into who knows what and stunk!  This afternoon I finally had the energy to take on the task of a first bath.  I know, I know she should have had a bath already by now - but it has been summer and she really hasn't gotten stinky until this week.  So, I got her in the bath tub and she wasn't too sure what to think.  This is one of those times when a picture says a thousand words.

Stella's First Bath

Obviously, the safest place to be was down my shirt!

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