I am still trying to make my garage the most comfortable I’ve ever had. And I think it really needs a utility sink to was dirty tools and hands. I’m happy to do the drywall, but really don’t want to do the plumbing! So I hired someone to do the tricky plumbing part, and all I had to do was tear a huge hole in my pretty wall, and then patch it up again when all was finished! I was able to remove the drywall in a single piece, making it a bit easier to put back together. It turned out really well! (Because I didn’t do the plumbing!)

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Sunday morning I was helping Steve work on his garage, and we needed to go to his office for something. It’s right across the street from the Farmer’s Market, so he suggested we stop in for some killer cinnamon rolls that he likes to get there. I bought some awesome corn, and he bought a couple super cinnamon rolls. (He nicely shared)

While we were working in his garage, I got a call from long time friend Darrell. He said he was in the neighborhood and wondered if he could come by. “Of Course! Where are you?” “In Hemmingford, only about 6 hours away…”

What fun! So good to spend a little time with him, even though he had to leave the next morning. So glad he feels anywhere in Nebraska is “in the neighborhood.”

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Last week we took some of Becky’s baked goods to the Nebraska State Fair to be entered into competition. This Wednesday was the live judging of a couple other categories, entered and judged the same day. Becky made a Strawberry, Blueberry, Peach Pie. Doesn’t that sound fantastic! The other thing was called a Holiday Board, with 4 different desserts arranged on a charcuterie board. Becky made peanut butter/chocolate tarts for wheels, ‘Sausages’ out of chocolate, pistachios and more, ginger and chocolate cookies for trees, and candy snowmen. All arranged around chocolate/pretzel wagons. It was adorable, and all edible. But we didn’t get to eat it!

We went with her to the fair, checked the goodies in, and then went to explore the exhibits. Live judging would be a few hours later.

So Welcome to the Nebraska State Fair!

One huge building featured thousands of homemade art pieces. A few caught my eye, like these silly light fixtures.

A whole wall of model rockets… and a very whimsical sculpture involving tea service.

A one-man band…

The day was perfect – not too hot, and not at all crowded.

And there were Tractors! BIG Tractors!

You need people in the picture to see how enormous these things really are! There were several brands represented at the fair, each with gigantic machines on display. I only took pictures of the Deeres.

I think this was the biggest, baddest dude at the fair! Not sure what it is used for, but I bet it goes wherever it wants!

A bee exhibit was fun – lots of bee info, including a fascinating BBC documentary I watched.

I loved this headline. But not enough to go read about it…

We caught a quick look at a Bald Eagle. It had been injured and could only fly a few feet, and that mostly downward. At least he’s well protected now.

What’s a fair without junk food? We had to do our part to support vendors selling stuff we’d feel guilty eating any other time.

Ever try deep-fried cheese on a stick? Jeanne, that one was for you!

Watching your mini-donuts made to order was almost as much fun as eating them! Cinnamon Roll Donuts and Lemon Glazed Donuts. Wonderful!

You can watch my donuts being made! Yay! And at 6 times speed!

So it was finally time for the judging of the baked goodies. I had no idea how this process was done. I figured there would be a panel of judges, and they would have a nice piece of pie or whatever, and each would give it a 1 to 10, and they’d average them and have a winner! NOOO!

There was only one judge. The lady would read the recipe, frown at the pastry for a long time, remove a thimble sized piece and slowly eat at it. Then she would talk about how well cooked (or not) the thing was, and how they followed the rules for that category (or not) and other criteria she used. Most of the time she was completely silent. That one lady did all the judging! The judging started 2:00 and didn’t finish till 5:30! (We toured the area while the judging was going on, and that’s when I got to watch the Bee documentary.) The judge lady would have been exhausted if she hadn’t been tasting all the great desserts! (I wondered if I could be a dessert judge next year!)

The bright spot was that Becky got first prize in her category, and a first prize overall for a broader category (which I certainly can’t describe.) Of the 5 entries we delivered last week (judged last week, probably by somebody else or they’d still be at it) 4 got ribbons! One first prize, two second prizes, and one third. Not too shabby!

It was hard waiting through interminable time for the results, and we didn’t even get to taste them! (Becky nicely had given us some samples before the fair.)