Debra Prinzing

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Fun at the Ventura County Fair

August 11th, 2009

My lifeblood is comprised of words, sentences, paragraphs, stories. I am definitely NOT a writer of “short” blog posts. But sometimes, I do have to defer to the photographs to tell a story. So today, you will be treated to mostly photos of our afternoon at the Ventura County Fair in Ventura, California. After years fighting the crowds, strollers and sticky run-ins with cotton candy at the King County Fair in Puyallup (Washington), I have to say how nice it is to take in a smaller fair with fewer bells and whistles. With the charming theme, “Homegrown and Pure-Bred,” Ventura’s is the perfectly-sized county fair. Of course, when you go on a Monday afternoon, you’re not going to encounter the weekend crowds. So we did.

What follows are my favorite images of the day. The fair continues through Sunday, August 16th. For details, click here:

RIDES TO THRILL

What a beautiful whirligig. The figures against the blue sky are flying around. The machine's carnival-colored design is beautiful.
What a beautiful whirligig. The figures against the blue sky are flying around. The machine’s carnival-colored design is beautiful.
The giant slide. A ride down the track on a burlap sack couldn't be more fun. My son Alex is nearly prostrate, on the green slide; his friend Philip is racing down the orange one.

The giant slide. A ride down the track on a burlap sack couldn't be more fun. My son Alex is nearly prostrate, on the green slide; his friend Philip is racing down the orange one.

 JUST FOR LOCAVORES

A prizewinning Hubbard squash in the Agricultural Building caught my eye. I'm growing one in the garden, but she won't be this big for a while yet.

A prizewinning Hubbard squash in the Agricultural Building caught my eye. I'm growing one in the garden, but she won't be this big for a while yet.

CRAZY FARM ANIMALS
Turkey racing. Words cannot describe this silly event, but we loved it!

Turkey racing. Words cannot describe this silly event, but we loved it!

More turkeys, including the brown ones.

More turkeys, including the brown ones.

FLOWER POWER
The "Floriculture" displays featured some outdoor gardens. Here's my very favorite: The "Flower Bedroom." I've seen planted beds before, but none as fanciful and well-executed as this one. Note the succulents spilling out of the dresser drawers, too!

The "Floriculture" displays featured some outdoor gardens. Here's my very favorite: The "Flower Bedroom." I've seen planted beds before, but none as fanciful and well-executed as this one. Note the succulents spilling out of the dresser drawers, too!

A sedum armchair. Lush and fluffy. Makes you want to sink right in. I love that the lime green arms have been painted to pick up the bright foliage.

A sedum armchair. Lush and fluffy. Makes you want to sink right in. I love that the lime green arms have been painted to pick up the bright foliage.

BACK TO WORK
 
Today I’m back at the desk, doing interviews for an article for a garden trends story that will run in a future issue of Alaska Airlines magazine. Alex and his friend are back to Junior Lifeguard training. We had a great day at the fair! After all that frivolity, we ended up only eating two roasted corn-on-the-cobs and one powder-sugar-flocked funnel cake between the three of us. Even still, by the time we came home at 8 p.m., both guys had headaches and stomachaches. That’s what going on all those spinning rides will do to you. Me, I’d rather look at produce, pigs, and pretty plants.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, August 11th, 2009 at 7:03 am and is filed under Creativity, Furniture design, Gardening, General, Landscape Design, Plants, Playfulness. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

9 Responses to “Fun at the Ventura County Fair”

  1. Lorene Says:
    August 11th, 2009 at 1:15 pm

    I wanna fluffy sedum chair…and I wouldn’t turn down a powdered sugar flocked funnel cake either!
    .-= Lorene´s last blog ..Here come the Lazy Housewives!!! =-.

  2. Lori Says:
    August 12th, 2009 at 2:46 am

    Funnel cakes and a sedum armchair….doesn’t get any better than that! 🙂

  3. TC Says:
    August 12th, 2009 at 8:24 am

    Colorful rides, ripe produce, turkey trots, and beds of flowers don’t quite match up to powdered sugar flocked funnel cakes! I’m manning the master gardener booth at an upcoming local fair, you can be sure I’ll hunt down the funnel cake booth! 🙂
    .-= TC´s last blog ..Sun + Flower = Sunflower (Or Pretty Things) =-.

  4. Lydia Plunk Says:
    August 12th, 2009 at 8:50 pm

    What GORGEOUS photos. I am impressed.

  5. David @ Garden Sheds Direct Says:
    August 19th, 2009 at 7:13 am

    Very colourful, gets me thinking on my youth. Fantastic site and great photography. thanks for the interesting read.

  6. Debra Prinzing » Blog Archive » My Mother’s Day gardening project Says:
    May 10th, 2010 at 7:10 am

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