Topsfield Fair

Topsfield Fair is a New England tradition that has been running annually since 1818, with an exception for a few years of interruption during the Civil War and WWII.

On Friday the 30th, at 1PM, it opened its gates for the 186th time, and I was there with my boys.

Opening Friday is a great time to go if you're ever visiting.

Too early in the day to speak of any crowds.

No lines or obstructions.

They didn't even charge us the $10 for parking.

Nice, because it cost $30 for the three of us to enter the fair.

Yikes!

We started out with our favorite part of the fair... the animals.

Some hairy sheep.

And some naked sheep.

We watched sheep being sheared both the old fashion way with sheers,

and with electric clipper shears.

Here's a cow with cute curly bangs.

Or, is it a toupee?

An alpaca with a cute nose.

A beautiful draft horse enjoying some green grass

outside the Fruit and Vegetable Exhibit.

The horse looks so muscular and strong,

and I like their hairy hooves.

My son said it looks like they have boots on.

Yeah, maybe, like those furry boots people have in the Alps.

Moving on...

To the inside of the Fruit and Vegetable Exhibit.

Above is the "Best Home Garden Display".

Wowsers!

Those are some large pumpkins!

Very nice "Ribbon Worthy" produce.

But, what's in the bucket?

That's not sage, is it?

Moving on to flowers.

My favorite part of the Flower Exhibit was the Dahlia displays.

Below is one of several.

The blue glass bottles looked especially nice with the orange toned Dahlias.

Nice to see the wide range of size, petals, and colors displayed like this.

The boys and I also spent a little bit of time in the

Beekeeping house.

Look at the range of color in the honey jars!

From light, almost citrusy yellow colored honey,

to a very dark, amber color.

I wish I could have sampled them.

My son got to make his own beeswax candle (for a $1).

And if you'd rather buy them, you could have done that too.

Here is the duck race.

Volunteers from the crowd get to race mallard ducks.

Kind of fun, but over before you know it.

Besides, they were from New Mexico where duck racing,

according to the announcer, is very common.

I guess there was a pig race too,

but we missed that one.

Hand carved Welcome signs, anyone?

Or how about a cowboy hat?

With a pair of cowboy boots?

Not particularly New England:ish, more Texan, I'd say.

Here's a part of the fair that we covered quickly, the carnival.

It was actually a bit of a turn off walking through this part.

The workers at the attractions don't spare any tricks to lure your children in.

I was close to picking a fight (well, perhaps more of an argument)

with a worker

about their sneaky methods at the balloon and dart stand.

But, I figured it wasn't worth it, and we left.

The boys did try a couple of the games.

But the games are over quickly, cost a lot,

and the prices are so tacky,

that they soon wanted to leave this area.

There's no mistaking that food is a big part of any fair or carnival.

Topsfield is no exception.

All kinds of food options line the paths to every exhibit,

and the smell of fried foods lie like a heavy blanket across the fair ground.

Okay while you're hungry, but then it becomes almost nauseating.

Although dogs are prohibited from entering the fair,

there was some fun and fancy food to purchase and bring home to your pooch.

Does a dog really care though, what the food looks like?

I think this dog food mostly entertain the owner.

I seriously don't know how these bmx guys fit in to the agricultural theme.

But,

they were AWESOME!!!

We really enjoyed their performance.

Their tricks were high flying and fantastic.

I don't think I was the only mom

that gasped and held my breath a few times.

Last,

but NOT least...

The Big Pumpkin Weigh Off

This, my friends, this...

is what I came for.

This trip wouldn't have been complete

If I hadn't gotten to see these fantastic, giant pumpkins.

This year's winning pumpkin, announced last night, weighed 1,668.5 lbs,

and was grown by Mr. DeNigris and Mr. Moore of Gloucester.

Congratulations to the two of you!

All in all, a fairly fun visit.

But, I think, to enjoy it more next time, I need to let go of my romanticized images of what an agricultural fair should be like. In my mind I see an agricultural fair the way it might have been about 50 years ago. Less commercialized, more genuine, and more... agricultural.

Brimfield Antique Show

Okay, so I am not on top of posting lately, but if you are reading this, you're still with me. And for that, I appreciate you and Thank You!

After dreaming of attending Brimfield Antique Show (Massachusetts) for several years, I finally went.

Brimfield is one of the largest outdoor antique fairs in the country. It is held three times a year and pulls a big crowd. Even Martha Stewart is a fan, I've heard she marks it on her calendar. This May's fair is covered on her website under the Home & Garden tab for those of you who are curious and are looking for more information.

The whole experience is a bit overwhelming. The show draws thousands of vendors from all over the country. There is more ground to cover than you could possibly do in one day. I think??? Perhaps that's why the show runs for almost a whole week.

Well, I went early on a Saturday morning and I am sharing my experience and a few of the hundreds of pictures that I took.

I saw plenty of things that I was interested in buying, like the beautiful prints above, but I just kept holding off in case I should find something better. Suddenly I didn't know what I liked or what I wanted. I was too overwhelmed.

I did like these painted well buckets when I first saw them, cute to have plants in, I thought. But then I saw that they were made in China and they kind of lost their appeal.

Now, these perforated tin buckets above, I absolutely love, especially now that I am sitting in front of my computer and looking at them again. At the time that I took the picture, I didn't really see them. I just thought "nice buckets"and took a picture.

A bit morbid perhaps, but I find this animal skull attractive. Can't quite put my finger on why.

On the right, really cool, lobster traps made into lamps. I like rusty old, wiry stuff, and clever repurposing.

Repurposing again, old license plates made into bird houses. Not my taste, too whimsical for me, but fun and different.

I bet the wooden stakes with herb names didn't sell all that well. Don't you look at those and think "wouldn't those be really easy to make yourself"?

Yeah, I thought so too.

Ooh, la la, nice shapes! Especially on the right. I like.

Hey you gardeners with great imaginations, can you see the female wire mannequin dressed in moss or succulents? You know, make it in to a garden sculpture. I'm sure it could be done, I'm just not one of those handy crafty people who could do it.

On the left, professional Brimfield shoppers.

On the right, a former professional locked up (by husband I assume).

Perhaps if I had bought one of these totally hot bikes...

...my feet wouldn't have gotten so tired.

Perhaps a change of shoes would have helped?

Anyhow, five hours later, the crowds were thickening,

and it was time to head back home.

Hands up if you totally dig Brimfield and will come back.

Really?!?!?!

I almost ended up leaving without anything in my hands. What a shame that would have been. Towards the end I found this old wooden beer box, originally $65 but haggled it down to $20. Perfect for my Swedish magazines and a couple of books. Ooooh, and I also found the antler in the picture, and that I paid $10 for, without haggling. I thought the price was reasonable as it was.

All the best,

Annelie

The Red Tulip

I wanted to share a couple of pictures with you that my Swedish friend Gisela took last weekend. She took a bunch of nice pictures of Boston on a spring day, but the two below from the Public Garden, really caught my attention and curiosity.

Picture by Gisela

There, amongst a sea of yellow tulips stands a single RED tulip.

This red tulip is so intriguing.

It sticks out, catches your eye and engages mind and imagination.

Picture by Gisela

How did it end up there?

Was it human or natural error?

From my own experience, it has happened more than once that flowers

open a different color than what the label said.

Was it on purpose?

Perhaps a mischievous gardener wanted to play a little trick on visitors.

Or maybe it was a romantic gardener sending a message to his lover.

(A red tulip is a declaration of love.)

Another question is how long the red tulip will stand there.

It does stick out like a sore thumb among all the yellow tulips.

Even though I would NEVER pick it,

I have to admit that something inside me compels me to remove it.

I'm not sure if it the perfectionist in me that produces the urge to pick the tulip.

Or, that I am slightly obsessive compulsive about certain things,

or the fact that the single red tulip troubles my mind a bit

and I want to put my mind at ease.

I'm sure at least a few more people passing by this beautiful tulip has had similar thoughts.

What do you think?

A big Thank You to Gisela for letting me borrow your beautiful pictures.

And to anyone curious about things to do in Boston, please do visit Gisela's website Love Boston with me.

Have a great Wednesday!

Annelie

I decided to add this note from my photographer friend Gisela.

"From the photographer.... All who walked by (and there was a Walk for something that day so there were thousands of people...) stopped and were intrigued by the red tulip. People were commenting left and right and the red tulip got its picture taken more than once.

I think it was a deliberate plan by a 'busig' gardener... 'cause on the other side, there was a pink one in exactly the same place among the yellow tulips... but it didn't stand out as much as the red tulip."