Best in show

Nothing like an ag fair to make a girl happy. After a week of hideous germs, M took me out to the Hawkesbury Show and it certainly cheered me up. Who wouldn't be excited standing in front of a cabinet full of cake? And another of tea cosies?? And best of all - a whole shed full of chooks! Ah the joy of it all. Here's some highlights:

The first time I went to the Easter Show as a kid was with my friend from school and her family. She had cousins who lived on a big property out West near Griffith so they were all pretty familiar with rural life. I grew up in an outer Sydney suburb where the only pig I'd ever encountered was in a book. I can tell you, I got the shock of my life seeing those gigantic animals laying in the pens!

Examining the produce. Mick's favourites were the giant pumpkins and this egg display:

Snorkling eggs and chooky cup cakes. Happy happy.

And another favourite in the bottom corner - Shaun the Sheep!

I love a bit of plate art and clearly this one was a winner. Next door - the timeless tea cosie. But let's face it - the stars of the show (for me anyway!) were always going to be the chooks. I did feel a bit sorry for the poor old things cooped up and being eyeballed all day but some of them were pretty spectacular.

I found a mate for our Big Fluff (second row, 4); a couple of 'lawn ornaments' (top row, 4; second row, 2; bottom row, 1 & 2); a couple that looked like they were having a bad hair day (Frizzles? Second row, 1 and 3; third row, 4) and some fine looking fellas and lovely little hens.

The last aisle was ducks. Poor ducks - they were mostly running out of water and a bit frantic. The winning drake was busy eating his certificate, culminating in him tearing it off the cage door. Not sure whether he should actually be eating his certificate, I snatched it out of his beak and put it on top of his cage. There was only a few hours to go and I think he'd just had enough! This little duck oposite wasn't quite so fraught!

All in all, a good day! On the home front, I went ahead and clipped Amelia's wings (thanks for your comments!). She still manages to get around but seems less inclined to her impressive yard-length flights. I did both wings because I wasn't sure and I kept reading conflicting advice. Oh well, next time! Happy chickening for now.