Sweet Martha's "Cookie"

Today, I got up, stretched out my shins and hamstrings, made coffee and got ready for a day of waiting. I asked Stella to join me and had her bedroom slammed in my face...I took that for a "No".

I met Dad and we walked over together, His goal to walk the Foundation Historical Walking Tour and get his prize, my goal, to see a calf born.

I got a few punches in my cards as we made our way toward the CHS miracle of birth center. As the doors opened at 9:00am we walked through the CHS to make sure no one was in active labor before a quick detour for a punch outside the horse barn and a quick hello to Diane!

Dad and I parted ways as he continued his tour, and I made a restroom stop, and stopped for breakfast.  The foot long stand outside the Coliseum is a good one, so I asked for a dog with raw onions and a coke.  The young lady said "Ma'am , we only have Pepsi, is that OK?"  I said "NO, just the dog then!" I walked the two blocks back up to the Coke booth and stocked up.  Returning to CHS I took my seat in the top corner of the cow bleachers. I had a book, and my old school blogger (pen and paper), and my phone.  What more could I need?

As I was getting comfortable at 9:30am, a little kid climbed up and sat near me, his mom came shortly after and as the kid told her he wanted to stay , the mother said "We are not going to just sit here and wait for a cow", I thought...I AM!

Sitting at the top of the empty bleachers was an interesting feeling , especially as people kept running to the top to try and see over at the lambs being born behind me. Every person that ran up said, "you can't see anything" and ran back down. It was a bit like a ride, and I wasn't completely convinced the bleachers could stand it and was hoping for people to sit down on the lower section to offer some counterbalance!

At 9:37 the first lamb was born.  It was sort of interesting as the whole barn stopped and it was really quiet and then a cheer went up! I was keeping my eye on the prize in front of me.  Every now and then the cow would lift her tail and her eyes would go buggy and you could tell she was having a contraction, but they were about 5-6 minutes apart, so I had a while to wait.  I named the cow down front, who was tagged #5610,  "Sweet Martha" as I listened to the announcers say that all the babies get state fair names.  The mothers get nothing :(  and I was going to be hanging with her for a while!

The girl in pink is Anna!

At 9:59, the cow began to lie down and get up again, this was a good sign! Up and down means she is making progress.

A couple minutes an older couple (who should not have been scaling bleachers) clambered to the top to try and see lamb #2 being born behind me.  I wanted to make a sign that said" You can't actually see the lambs from here" but people are sheep!  As the older gentleman tried to navigate his way back down he almost fell and sat on my head! It was going to be a l~o~n~g morning! At 10:15 "Pup" the lamb was born joining his brother "Pronto".  Sweet Martha was just chillin'

I got a call from Dad to tell me about his adventures! He was riding the Sky Glider up to the north end to get the Pet Center punch.  I didn't tell him I think that gliding may be taking a short cut on the walking tour, but who am I to judge when I only have seven of the thirteen punches in five days and I have used gliders and trolleys and friends Oh My!

As he was gliding over the Ford booth a wind suddenly took his prescription sunglasses right off his face and luckily they hit the ground (not a tent, truck or roof!) right near one of the guys working the Ford booth.  The guy picked up the frames ( and the lens that popped out on impact) and waved to dad!  What a relief Dad thought as he then glided over the roof of the little hands farm and looked down to see the sunglasses and other treasures littered there!  He did have to walk back down to get them, so maybe that is just Karma..he did do the whole walking tour!

I have been keeping tabs on the goings on in the barn and have learned that you will know things are progressing when you see a "blue shirt" (Vet) and a couple "orange shirts" (FFA kids), and then it is getting close when they bring in the cameras. At 11:01...."blue shirt" on scene!

A woman sitting next to me for a while (who I now know is Jeanne) was taking care of a sweet girl (Anna) who was waiting patiently, watching the cow, arms draped on the fences opposite us. We got to talking, it was nice to have company!

In a few minutes I got more company!  Dad and Michael showed up!  Dad finished his tour and got his prize, an emblem of validation!  Yes I am a winner!

  This was en exercise in patience and tolerance! The cow pooped and peed at 11:18 Wahoo!

At this point I made a prediction of birth at 12:48pm.  I was wrong, but not by too much!

11:30 we saw two orange shirts arrive as I heard a kid about a ten years old say..."how do you know if it's a boy or a girl?"  SERIOUSLY????? 

Dad and Michael moved on, as did Jeanne and Anna shortly thereafter. I told them I would update them via text, if there was any action.  Michael said it's hard to leave...you get sucked in!

At 11:52 all personnel left the staging area, so  I put my head back in my book.  Fifteen minutes later the Veterinarian entered and he had a mic!  He didn't start talking until 12:22 and said " Well it looks like she will give birth this afternoon sometime"  PHEW good to know!  He also said after her water breaks it will be about an hour, which it did about 15 minutes later!

12:45 pm, they closed off all access to the back side of the pen, there are three orange shirts on site, two vets, but no cameras.

The vet has a running dialogue with the crowd during this whole time as we all wait.  He says that no matter how many times he does this (hundreds so far) he never gets tired of it. I understand why. My book is put aside and now I am rapt.

It is 1:05 and two feet and the placental sac have been visible for a while and the cameras arrive! The vet says the feet are big, so the calf will be too! Boys are typically 10-20 pounds heavier than girls, A baby Holstein usually weighs in at between 80-100 pounds!

1:19 and the professionals are all waiting to see a nose, then they will decide if Sweet Martha needs any help.  She has been doing pretty well on her own so far! She is bellowing pretty good, so they want to help her out. They chain the calf's feet and help her by pulling. At 1:33 "cookie" is born!

I stood up on the top bleacher for the last 15 minutes and could see pretty well. The kids who climbed up the back of the bleachers, trying to see, were none too happy, but too bad.  You snooze you lose! It was AMAZING!  It was worth the wait!

I wanted to wait and see him take his first steps, but the vet said it could be an hour or so, and I had consumed too much liquid to sit there much longer!

I climbed down from my perch and got a few close ups of "my calf" and made a beeline to the restroom and then exited the barns.  Outside it was warm and sunny so I decided to take a break and head home.

I returned to the fair with Mom around 6:00 to go to the Knoblauch bench warming and celebration of a wonderful life! Mimi Knoblauch passed away this spring and this was her tribute and a way for the family to share her love of the fair!  It was fun to see friends and meet new ones, and they had games, drawings and fabulous prizes! 
I won two tickets to Ye Old Mill!  I offered to take mom forgetting she is a bit to claustrophobic for that one!  I got to share a few Garlic fries from the Ball Park Cafe too! 

The reception was just feet from the CHS barn, so I had to check on my calf.   Mom and "cookie" were still hanging out in the center pen, no other cows in labor!  The FFA kids had named the calf Ferris Wheel.  UGH, I am going to keep calling him "Cookie"!   I asked the vet when he first walked and he wasn't sure, but said he had been up and down a lot.  He was just snoozing.  I was scratching Sweet Martha's head and I told her "good job Mom" , just as I felt a tap on my shoulder and it was Lynn and Gordy!  (great friends of the family!)  I keep saying it is the Great Minnesota get together, you never know who you will see!

They were gonna close up the barns soon, so I took my leave, knowing I wouldn't see Sweet Martha again, but "Cookie" would be in his little pen to visit tomorrow, and visit I will!

Mom was watching the talent shows, so I headed north to meet her and took the trolley part way.  On our way out, we wandered through the Education building.  There was still a huge line for the Minnesota State Colleges wheel and so I waited for a bit to see what the big prize was.  I finally gave up and just walked to the front and asked. .....an Ice Scraper.  Oh my.  Not worth the wait FYI!  We decided to detour through the Annex and check out the slushie booth that Sonja alluded to in her blog.  FREE SAMPLES!  They tasted just like mom made. :)  A toast to another great day at the fair and then home!

I think I was more tired today from sitting so much than all the walking I had been doing!  We left the grounds at about 8:45, a twelve hour day!



Day Five STATS:
Distance: I sat most of the day!  I forgot the pedometer anyway!
Food Consumed: Foot Long, Coke, granola bar (packed from home), garlic fries.
Funny Hats: a few fish hats , won as fabulous prizes at the reception!
Free Stuff: Ye Old Mill tickets!, and another St Thomas bag!
Calf count: Fair: 7, ME: ONE!

I didn't crash into anyone or fall at all, even navigating bleachers!

Ricky Sk"eggs"

Got to Mom's mid afternoon with minor shin splints and sore feet!  I had plans to meet Liz and the Ag/Hort at 5:00 and was deciding if I should head over early to see if there were any calves...just as mom brought out wine slushies and served them to all the denizens of Simpson Street relaxing in lawn chairs half-heartedly parking cars.  It didn't require much effort, a wave of the hand and price quote and they were in.
I got to the grounds about an hour early and wandered through Ag/Hort until Liz got off work.  The gladiolas were spectacular, and one spectator in particular caught my eye.






Wandered through the crop art and found a scarecrow...is that made by the Cindy K. I know?  Love it, Gnomeo and Juliet!
 



I went to see all the veggies, and all the crops seemed a bit unimpressive this year, maybe it was a bad growing season for everything.  The pumpkins were still good sized though!


I wandered over to the Bee exhibit and I noticed they were actively doing the bee demonstration so I snuck back out since I am allergic, I didn't want to tempt fate! I stopped at the honey candy booth to get my traditional green apple honey hard candy only to be told they no longer sold it separately, I had to purchase and "assorted" bag.  I looked and there were maybe three or four of my faves.  No way...broke my heart.  No purchase made there....and went to the apple booth to score my apple cider freeze pop, still only a buck!  Ahh, started to feel better.

Once she was done with her shift at the Horticulture Society booth, Liz and I both needed to eat some protein. Liz has a great list of the "healthy" food options, and I wondered why Axel's Bull Bites were not on the list and Liz said they were fried!  I didn't believe it, but decided to do some research later!
Ball Park Cafe's chicken is on the list so on we went and  I got a burger and fries and she got the broasted chicken dinner!  YUM!

We decided to explore Heritage Square and started looking at some of the booths, we saw the guy who makes the cool frames with names and sayings and I think it is where Mom got the "Five generations" frame for Kyle and Rachel to celebrate when Grandma was 100 and Harper was just born!

"You could put Randy in there!"

We found Meg's Apron lady friend and she was grateful for the plug at church that morning!
There was a booth that sold some different woodworking things and could not determine a purpose for these strange boxes...Liz suggested maybe ashes??

We then took a stroll through the Fair History Center.  found a picture of Randy's relative Eugene Wilson Randall, a State Fair Manager in 1925, and they had a fair archive book with a picture of  John J. Randall. We found an old advertisement that was donated by a Carol Brekken....can it be the one I think it is?

Outside I found this plaque, and I think it sums up the fair for me!

I told Liz the story of my Mother walking through the century farmhouse and having a strange feeling she had been in the house before, and sure enough it was donated to the grounds by the Lunstter Family of Gatzke and mom had played with some of the ten Lunsetter children who grew up in it!  Take a walk through and imagine being one of ten kids sleeping, and living in that house! There is "school sled" too, also from gatzke...and I wonder grandma ever rode in one?




As we left Heritage Square, it was the tail end of the Wild West Doggie Show. I had heard good things, and we just caught the last act of the one of the doggies climbing and jumping off a ladder.  Not sure if I will return to see the rest! 



Liz and I returned to complete the rounds of Creative Activities that neither of had really finished!  We decided that maybe next year we would download the 75 page competition manual and try our hand at bars, or jam, or cookies!  We decided it can't be that hard.  I am sure we will be proved wrong!

I took a few pics of the Shakespeare quilt squares on a stick for those who can't get there to see them! Liz commented that Lisa Strochein's mom had entered in some category and we decided to not look through the books and find it.  I turned and saw a beautiful table runner with pansies all over it and I told Liz how it would be something my Grammie Kelsey would have loved...and sure enough...it was a sweepstakes winner made by Beverly Strochein...a little uncanny!



Next stop was the Fine Art building.  Every year there is usually one piece of art that really makes me think or I really like.  This year nothing struck me.  Lots of digital prints!  One in particular stuck out.  A photograph of a young woman...that's it a young woman taken at a strange angle and the price tag was $3300.  ?????

Liz needed some coffee, it had been a long day, and I told her that Salem Lutheran was purported to have Scandinavian egg coffee, so she got a cup....about a 6 oz cup for $1.50.  she was allowed refills, but could not wander far!.  While there she also got a piece of pumpkin pie which we shared!

After a quick coffee refill we got word that mom and my brother Michael were saving seats at the band shell.  We got there fifteen minutes before showtime and i decided to go do the bull bite research from earlier! As I ordered some, I asked if they were fried or grilled and she said...well they are pan fried.  Hmmm how different is that really from deep frying?  Well either way, they were tasty!

Returning to my seat, I got there just as Michael arrived with beer-garitas and nachos! we got comfortable for the concert, unwittingly seated in front of the Ricky Skaggs Super fan!  The announcer introduced the concert and welcomed Ricky to the fair, and once out on stage Ricky said..."Ya'll think I have an accent???, there is no "e" on that sign is there? Ya'll say "Sk-eggs" .  The super fan whooped and hollered at that one, as did most of the crowd.  Partway through the show as I was losing the hearing in my right ear due to the super fan, I turned to Liz and David (referring to said super fan) said..."I think we should maybe get him another beer!"  The concert started with a bunch of great bluegrass and amazing mandolin and banjo playing! As the concert wore on...we did too and once he began the 1980's playlist, and the super fan left to get more beer, we decided to make our get-away. 

Home and too tired to blog, I went right to bed!~
!


Day Four STATS:
Distance: 4.2 miles. I realized that I have walked a marathon in four days. Slowly mind you, but that's a long way!
Food Consumed: (Slushies) Ball Park burger, fries, winner winner chicken dinner!, pumpkin pie, nachos, onion rings, bull bites and Beer-garitas
Funny Hats: the red white and blue guy, or is that considered a wig?

Free Stuff: New St Thomas bag, since the one last night was used to hold the cookies and had chocolate inside!
Left side collisions..zero today, doing better!


 

Boston Scientific (4-H) Day!

As I sat eating (not) breakfast with my friend Lisa this morning (off the grounds) I tallied the food consumed last night, it wasn't until later that I realized the only part of it that I consumed, was the Gyro, (at noon) a bite of Cookie Blech, a bite of Walleye Cake, and a few Sweet Martha's cookies.  I was there for 13 hours and walked 12 miles.  No wonder I was so hungry!  Today I will eat!

Today is the day that Boston Scientific offers employees a bargain rate for tickets and t-shirts to have a presence out at the fair!  You will notice in all the photos of me, my lovely orange bumper car shirt.  If you saw thousands of them out there today, then it worked!


I didn't get to the fair until 1:00 to connect with my Uof MN gal pals, Sarah, Rebecca and Jen!  (I found out later a calf was born at 12:37....of course)

As I was waiting for them to finish working in their booth, there was an opportunity to get a bag if you played "Ask the Doctor".  I am always up for a free bag, so I showed him my arm, with the strange rash (seen by two prior doctors) I have had for some time.  He had no idea, gave me a bag and told me to go sit down at the next table and there was a Dermatologist via skype!  I had my arm up on the big screen...(awkward!) But he told me the name of an OTC lotion I could try, or get another biopsy.  Same story I have been told, but this time it was FREE!  Love the free stuff at the fair!



We began with a Tejas treat of Guacamole and chips..YUM! and Rebecca had a coupon for a chicken something, that she was not a fan of.


Then a corn dog was in order so I led them to Randy's new find last year, PONCHO Dog!  (still only $3.00!)  There was agreement that it was indeed a fine corn dog.

We headed to the Blue Moon, where I thought we might try the sweet corn ice cream.  Well the line was twenty-five minutes long out into the street, so I asked for a photo op, explaining about the blog.  I got a funny look, but a nod of assent...after all it is the Minnesota thing to do...  oh ya sure, you betcha!  Most people seemed to think it was pretty good, so maybe I will try it another day.  I will skip the caramelized bacon topping though!

As we stood and watched the ejector seat launch, Rebecca said, "I would cry, scream and puke all at the same time"  I explained they would have a nice picture of that for her when she got off!


...I soon realized what I was hungry for!  My bacon cheddar mashed potatoes on a stick.  I got them (no line!) and my first bite I wasn't sure they were as good as last year, but my companions said they were great!  Maybe I just built them up so much in my head over that past 362 days that nothing could compare!

Off to see horses again. Love those horses. This Percheron stood in his stall with an unseen fan blowing his hair like a romance novel cover, and Jen said "looks like he is on vacation!"

 After horse barns, we headed to the Gopher Dairy Bar which I believe to have best soft serve ice cream on the grounds...I like it better than the Dairy Building...**ducking now**  We all got cones, some twist some chocolate, but all yummy!  Rebecca said" Do you know what I love about ice cream? It is the only treat where the tongue can really shine!"  lol

Yippee a TWIST!

I told the girls that I must pop into the CHS and see the calf status and that is when I realized that a calf had been born a mere two hours earlier. *sigh*  I took a picture of the tote board, and there were two born yesterday 2am and 5:30pm, when I was chillin at mom's house.  I need to make wiser choices with my time.  Maybe tomorrow, I bring the laptop and just sit there and write what I see walking by!

Grid Lock

Rebecca and Jen took their leave at that point and it was a good time to get out!  Sarah and I walked up the hill toward the Ag/Hort building and this is the sea of people that were before us.  As we reached the crest of the hill near the Wozniak's French Fry stand, the crowd began slowing and there was no retreat and no surrender.  Moving became a group effort.  If one person stopped we would have been stuck in a ball for hours.  It took us over ten minutes to work our way out about 100 feet farther past the KDWB booth into the street across from Ag/Hort.  I remembered why I usually go early and come back late on Saturdays!

Seriously I have never experienced grid lock like that! A friend told me later that her husband Dick could not even get close to get his french fries.  Now that is a very sad tale indeed.  I hope he knew he could get them by the Midway too, but it could have been just as bad down there!  Lines were incredible everywhere!

Sarah needed water so I took her to the oasis and we relaxed on a lovely bench, drinking cold water. We got caught up with everyone electronically, and Sarah found some cousins were currently located at a table in the original beer garden near the Chicago Dogs. On our way to find them, we located the brick! We traded one seat for another and hung out and chatted for quite a while!  It was nice meeting them! I helped them get their bearings and gave them info on what to do, and what to see and how best to do it, as I am wont to do.... more family joined in and as we were all headed down to see their family bench, I lost them in the crowd as I ran into more friends!

Tim & Paula Kennedy and me in blaze orange!

Back up to the Ball Park I went following the new crew.  Ran into about 20 people I know in that short amount of time... and then had to head up to the east end to meet Mom for the talent show.

 After three days of looking for him, I finally ran into Dave Theisen, owner of the Ball Park Cafe, and I found out that he has not been around much, sadly because Colleen's dad passed away today.  Our Condolences, prayers and good thoughts go out to the whole Theisen family!


 Mom was home trying to park that one more car, so I had some time to kill and I wandered through the Creative Activities.  I only made it about halfway through before mom called to say she had seats, but in that time I found a tinker toy carnival, a selection of State Fair Shakespeare Quilt squares on a stick, that are not to be missed..."Wherefore art thou Ale on a stick?"  "What is in a name, that which we call butter..." , and then as I was perusing the back wall of pies, cakes and cookies, I noticed a Sweepstakes winner blueberry pie, by a woman named Violet Lyford.


As I was staring at the name Lyford, wondering if it was any relation, up walks a woman and her family and says, "look girls that is your grandma's prize winning pie!"   I turned and told her that I didn't want to come across as a creepy stalker, but did she know if she was related to the Charles Lyford Chamberlains, Randy's relative who used to own and live on part of the fairgrounds.  She really didn't know, they live in Coon Rapids, with other Lyfords.  She did remember a grandparent named Randall, which really made me think there was a connection, She gave me her contact information (I must not have come across too strange) and I told her that maybe she was a descendant of "Old State Fair stock", we would look into and let her know!  It is the Great Minnesota Get Together after all!




I met mom at the bandshell and she took the opportunity to go get Danielson's onion rings, and we watched most of the talent show, leaving a bit early to get up to the county fair.  I was finally hungry again, so we got some pizza at Green Mill in Baldwin Park and found seats for the county fair show.  We needed something sweet and I told mom we could share an apple dumpling, but she thought she needed her own! I can't believe I finished a whole one!



We both had instructions from home to not leave the fair without certain things, Mom needed Sweet Martha's for the church pot luck outdoor worship in the morning and I was told not to come home without mini donuts.  My friend Lisa really needed a foot long, so off we went to check off the list!

As we walked away from Baldwin Park, we noticed a strange attraction.  I learned why Mr. Bubble was in the parade!  Turns out there is a "Bubble Bash" up by the KidWay, and your kids can jump in and get covered in bubbles.  They do this as birthday parties!  Was this on "Extreme Birthday Parties"?  I remember birthdays as a kid were good if we got a cake and maybe a new toy! 

Got Tom Thumbs without a line near the Kidway, then on to the best Foot Long stand next to the AFLCIO.  I told them I had a funny request and asked, since I had to take it home, could I have the bun and dog separate.  He shouted "To-Go" and they had that baby wrapped up and into bags for me in no time at all!  I looked at him with astonishment and he said, "This is not the first time Ma'am!"  LOL

The cookie line was a bit crazy, but we accomplished our list and walked s~l~o~w~l~y home.  We were both a little tired.  No Ricky Skaggs for us!






Day three STATS
Distance: only about 6 miles. 13K steps
Food Consumed: Guac & Chips, Poncho dogs (3), Mashed potatoes on a stick, Ice cream comes (4), pizza (2), Onion rings, Apple Dumplings (2),
Free Stuff: U of MN bag and dermatology consult!  St Thomas bag,
Calf Count: Fair: 5 me:0
NEW STAT:
 Times I have almost fallen or crashed into someone because I can't see out of my left eye...still : 3

*note: I tell my fair going companions that I need someone on the left at all times!  Yesterday I almost killed an old woman in a wheelchair who snuck up on my left and rammed into the back of my knee causing me to fall...not good.  Somehow it was my fault, but I have learned to take better precautions!