Time for Me to Fly

Lauren writes that today was the first FIRST day of school for her, having been homeschooled since birth.  So I thought it was fitting that when I went to check on the chrysalis from Letting Go, I found this:

Last night, it was black chrysalis with orange spots.  Today, it is a butterfly.  

Happy Flying, Lauren!

Overheard:

I am told my friends were gossiping about me.  Okay, maybe it was not gossip but concern.   A mutual friend asked a close friend how I was doing, as we'd not crossed paths lately, and my close friend relayed that I'd had foot surgery, not able to walk around, ride or do horses.  These friends said they could see how difficult that must be for me......to not be able to get dirty.  I see I have a reputation of sorts.

Heard:

Dh and I were in the barn.  Yes, I can do limited barn chores if I watch out for hooves.  I had preceded dh to the barn and groomed Etta.  When he came up to the barn, I told him I groomed Etta, 

Me:  My plan is to "do" one horse each day.

Dh:  Can I get on that schedule?

William and I accompanied friends to the Kentucky State Fair today.  $5 was well spent to teach William that french fries covered with chili and cheese sauce is gross and will make him feel sick.  Probably the only thing to beat that at the fair is the well advertised Krispy Kreme Donut hamburger.   Nasty.  I can't even imagine combining the sticky sweet glazed donut with a salty hamburger.  Not to mention that it costs $8 to reduce your lifespan by at least a few years, and in a state with a ballooning (literally) obesity rate.

We looked at Anna's and William's art entries.  In the 4H Divisions, Anna won blue ribbons in both senior painting and senior color drawing.  Her painting, Clouds Over July, went on to win class champion and Reserve Champion.  In the general entries arena, her painting of the Erie Canal in Rochester, New York won first place in the student division grades 10-12 (pictured below).  Her painting of Carrollton, Kentucky won an honorable mention in the adult division.  That one we hope will sell to add to her college fund.

William picked out his future car:

We reminisced about dh's family's former dairy farm:

and William climbed the walls:

So many fun and bizarre things to see at the state fair: