Carving Contest

There are lots of things going on at the Harvest Festival. There are crafts booths. If my mother was still alive, she'd have a booth out there, selling her hand-made items. Or walking around and getting ideas for new things to make. She could knit or crochet almost anything, making up her own patterns. I don't have that talent. I made one sweater. The arms were inordinately long, it would have fit an orangutan quite well.

But I didn't have to knit or crochet because mom did it all that so well.

There are booths where ladies sell handmade jewelry. I always buy something from them, I especially like the dichroic pieces. Not so much to wear, I just like to look at them, they're like tiny weird worlds with unearthly colors.

One booth is a favorite of mine, the coffee booth. There is a family in nearby Wilton that roasts coffee beans and sells it under their own label. My favorite is Killian's Special Reserve. Killian is their Irish Setter. He sits out in the booth and sells a lot of coffee, he's a totally gorgeous, silky-coated big sweetheart of a dog. They could probably use that dog to sell bad coffee, but the coffee is actually very good. I'm drinking a cup of it right now.

Mostly local people have booths at the Festival. There's a country western band, and it's from Wilton. Yesterday I caught this picture of the cowboy (or faux cowboy) who sells teepees dancing with the cowgirl (obviously faux) who sells hats.

To be fair, I'll ask them today if they have any cows. A lot of people who are into the cowboy culture don't even own a cow. Or a horse. But that's okay. I'm into science fiction and I've never been to space.

As I mentioned yesterday, there's a pumpkin carving contest. First prize is $300. The carving was yesterday. My artist friend Katherine came over to compete. She spent a lot of time shopping for just the right pumpkin.

If you read Katherine's blog, you have already seen her creation. If not, I'll show you. Katherine usually does scrimshaw on teeny tiny pieces of ivory. A pumpkin is a bit bigger. Here she is starting with the outline, using linoleum cutting tools. That would be for linoleum BLOCK cutting, not for mutilating the kitchen floor. I had to ask, so don't feel dumb.

It took 4.5 hours of carving away, making lots of tiny little pumpkin chips.

And when she was finished, there was a fantastic dragon on it.

Most of the other contestants finished theirs in 30 minutes or so. Here are some of their entries.

A couple of the other competitors were more skilled. The lady in the foreground won this contest last year.

I'll take some photos this morning when I go out to vote. If you're passing by today, please stop and vote, hopefully for Katherine's entry. Mr. Pudding, you can land that Cessna on the farm road that goes behind the corn stand. My brother did it a couple of times, except he was flying an Aeronca. And except he crashed it in the neighbor's back yard the last time he flew it out this way. But, oh well. If you buzz the corn stand a couple of times before you land we'll make sure the tractors are out of the way. And I'll have a cup of Killians ready for you.

Anyone who comes out should feel free to stop by and visit. Late yesterday Bob and I had a visit from very tall Ryan and his new girlfriend. Ryan was the social director at 4-H camp; he is the person who is always in charge of having a good time. He told us how he and his girlfriend got separated in the corn maze, so Ryan recruited 3 little boys to help find her. He gave them each a corn cob for a weapon in case they ran into monsters.

I always love seeing Ryan, he's one of those people who carries lots of sunshine with him. A Ryan hug is worth a lot. New girlfriend, whose name I haven't remembered yet, hang onto this guy. (She seems like a lot of fun herself.)

I'm heading out now. If there's anything you want a picture of, let me know.