It's festival time!
Ahh! It's festival time in my neck of the woods. Fireman's carnivals, county fairs, church bazaars, all abound this time of year and most manage to not coincide either. My trip Saturday took me to the Kutztown Festival, also known as the PA German festival. I took my Mom, sister and her boyfriend along and a good time was had by all. (Well, except for the part where my sister discovered her wallet missing. In the end she had left it in her BF's truck. Well, it kept her from spending too much, I guess :) It was mostly a trip to spend some time with my Mom and do some fun stuff. The festival focuses on Pennsylvania German or Dutch food, customs, crafts, and lifestyle. You can see many things from blacksmiths, to glassblowers, to broom makers, to storytellers, dancers, musicians, and lectures on customs. And the whole roast ox is something to see too. The weather was great this year, not too hot, not too cold and a nice breeze. We wandered though the shops and stalls, mostly just browsing but occasionally buying something that caught our fancy.
Probably the biggest attraction at the festival, though, is the quilt barn. In this climate-controlled structure are housed the jewels of the festival. Quilts. At least 200 of them, all different sizes, colors and patterns. The top prize quilts are auctioned off at the end of the festival, but the others are available for purchase before that. My Mom's an incredible quilt buff so we spent a great deal of time in there (plus it's air-conditioned so it's a nice break from the heat.) I've always wanted to buy one of these works of art, but most years, I've not had the funds. This year was different - I bought a quilt! (And I'm glad darph_bobo wasn't mad :) It's sized to fit our new bed (once I get around to buying it.) I've got pictures of it, but I'll put them in a separate post because I've got a few.
We completed the day by going for ice cream at Premise Maid Candies. If you like chocolate, Disney and/or ice cream, this is the place.
I didn't take as many pictures as darph_bobo did the last time we were there, but here's a few under a cut.
Fairs are educational :)
Here's a side view of the kiln that the above sign talked about. It shows how the kilns would be loaded up before they were fired.
This is a rare picture - here's my Mom being silly and petting a cow :) Can you believe she even *asked* me to take a picture?!
Getting your grain the old fashioned way. Threshing separates the grain from the stalks. I like how the kites are flying in the background. Someday I'm going to get one of those too.
I had to include this one as I'm pretty impressed it turned out. I had to squat down to get a good angle and kinda took a hurried pic as my knees can't handle that kind of abuse anymore.
Probably the biggest attraction at the festival, though, is the quilt barn. In this climate-controlled structure are housed the jewels of the festival. Quilts. At least 200 of them, all different sizes, colors and patterns. The top prize quilts are auctioned off at the end of the festival, but the others are available for purchase before that. My Mom's an incredible quilt buff so we spent a great deal of time in there (plus it's air-conditioned so it's a nice break from the heat.) I've always wanted to buy one of these works of art, but most years, I've not had the funds. This year was different - I bought a quilt! (And I'm glad darph_bobo wasn't mad :) It's sized to fit our new bed (once I get around to buying it.) I've got pictures of it, but I'll put them in a separate post because I've got a few.
We completed the day by going for ice cream at Premise Maid Candies. If you like chocolate, Disney and/or ice cream, this is the place.
I didn't take as many pictures as darph_bobo did the last time we were there, but here's a few under a cut.
Fairs are educational :)
Here's a side view of the kiln that the above sign talked about. It shows how the kilns would be loaded up before they were fired.
This is a rare picture - here's my Mom being silly and petting a cow :) Can you believe she even *asked* me to take a picture?!
Getting your grain the old fashioned way. Threshing separates the grain from the stalks. I like how the kites are flying in the background. Someday I'm going to get one of those too.
I had to include this one as I'm pretty impressed it turned out. I had to squat down to get a good angle and kinda took a hurried pic as my knees can't handle that kind of abuse anymore.