Preparing for the Bad Girls show in Fairbanks

Later this week, we drive north for our 12th annual Bad Girls of the North craft show in Fairbanks.  It's a long, long drive that takes most of the day.  We will leave on Thursday and get up early to do the show layout on Friday morning.

I made several small adjustments to my jewelry display last year, so I have no new display items for this year.  But I will change it up a bit so it doesn't look stale.  And most all of my jewelry is new and fresh.  There is one strategy change I will introduce, that I'll try to explain here.

One of my best selling necklace styles are my pearl mixes.  As a refresher, you can look at this post from a few years back.  The earrings that I make to go along with the necklaces are usually simple, single pearl drops, matching one of the pearls in the necklace.  They are sold separately from the necklaces, but I display them together.  It never fails -- there are always several customers who purchase only the earrings, leaving the necklace without a matching pair of earrings.  This year, I decided to make about 20 pairs of varied single pearls drop earrings for these people to choose from!  I will display them all together in a little basket.  Hopefully, this will prevent the lonely necklace syndrome.

We'll see.

Jet has a Play Date!

Jet is now 11 months old and weighs in at about 82 pounds.  That's a lot of dog, isn't it?  He's finally big enough for a "fair" play date with Murphy.  Murphy is the gorgeous labradoodle that lives across the street.  He's about 120 pounds!

Last week, I snapped some photos of them playing together in Kathryn & Timer's Murphy's backyard.

Looks rougher than it is.

Rick with Jet and Timer looks on.

(Murphy's not really biting Jet -- it just looks that way)

After only 10 minutes, the two of them are panting like, well, like dogs.

Poor Blitzen had to stay in the house.  She doesn't play well with others.  And she's old.

State Fair -- Food Photos

I only have time for a quick post with some photos of some of the food we've eaten during the past week.

Blue Corn Tamale (with all the toppings)

Pork Chop on a Stick (after a few bites)

Baked Potato topped with Cheese, Bacon and Sour Cream

And I decided to live-on-the-edge and get a feather hair extension.  I kind of love it.  The gorgeous earrings are from my friend Brandi at Caties Blue.

The Great Pumpkin Scandal of 2011

Alaska is famous for the giant vegetables that grow here.  Each year at the State Fair, the pumpkin weigh-off is a very big deal.  The same with the cabbage weigh-off, but we'll just focus on the pumpkins for now.

A 1723 pound pumpkin (can you say HUGE?) was disqualified because of a tiny hole.  I really don't get this.  Why does a hole disqualify a pumpkin?  This was not adequately explained for me.  I guess pumpkin judging rules are quite severe.

The winning pumpkin was a mere 1287 pounds.  Still pretty unreal looking.  Not at all attractive in the traditional pumpkin sense.  Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, I guess.

This is a photo of a completely different pumpkin, which weighed only 859 pounds.  I must have missed the bigger ones.  How could I??

If this tale really captivates you, you can read the full story here.

Pigs and Bonsai

Here are some more highlights from my stroll around the barn the other day at the Alaska State Fair.

There is something super cute about baby pigs.  Can't explain it.  It just is.  The mama pigs, not so much.

And a different set (litter?)

The bonsai display was amazing, as always.

I forgot to take a picture of the unique lunch item we found yesterday.  It was called a Chicken Parfait and not only was it clever, it was quite yummy.  In a clear plastic cup, make layers of mashed potatoes and shredded barbequed chicken.  Top it with a cherry tomato and barbeque sauce!

Later in the day --  I guess you could call it dinner -- we had the most fabulous crab bisque and shared an order of coconut crab patties.  Delicious!