Tuesday, July 20

Up at 6 a.m., but skipped my exercises again, because Hubbie and I needed to be at the fairgrounds by 7:30 to enter crafts and canned goods.

This year, there is a new category...place settings...and a former exhibit booth has been converted for this category. I set up two place settings on the shelf provided...one for Mother, and one for me. Mother's is an oriental setting. So on a black place mat, I arranged an oriental bowl and cup, and a red napkin holding chopsticks and a red flower tied with a red cord. For a background, there is a fan on a stand. The fan features the image of a Japanese woman.

My place setting is contemporary eclectic, I used China plates and a cup and saucer, all in different blue floral patterns, but which all blend. These are set on a blue place mat. When I had arranged my setting, I noticed I'd forgotten to bring along silverware and glasses, so I came back home (only a couple of miles) and gathered them. I used a juice glass and a water goblet, and a cut work white napkin in a silver napkin ring.

There are lots of place setting entries, including colorful Fiesta ware, autumn and Christmas colored dinnerware, and other eclectic settings, but I think Mother's is the simplest and most unique and striking, so I hope she wins a best of show.

On the second trip back to the fairgrounds, Mother went along. I knew we'd only be there for a short while, so she wouldn't get exhausted.

Back home, Hubbie and I went to a grocery store to pick up a few groceries, including bell peppers for tonight's supper.

Then I made a coffee cake to enter in the baked goods division tomorrow. Then I made big chef's salads for Hubbie's and my lunch (Mother opted for Ramen noodle soup). After lunch, Mother and I made sugar cookies. I mixed the cookie dough, and Mother spooned it onto cookie sheets, and used the end of a thread spool to make a design on the cookies. I put them in the oven, then transferred them to cooling sheets when they were baked. This cookie recipe makes about four dozen of the mouth-watering treats. Because we worked on them together, we can each enter three cookies for judging.

After that, I fixed a supper of beef strips with onions and bell peppers, baked potatoes, and cream style corn. By that time, Mother was ready to go home, so I accompanied her.

At home, I toured the yard to cut flowers for making an arrangement. I gathered zinnias, phlox, crape myrtal blooms, cone flowers, and other things to place in a mason jar. A raffia bow finished the arrangement. It's not spectacular, but it has a certain country charm, so I hope it wins a blue ribbon. Two years ago, I entered a similar arrangement and won best of show. I was very surprised, since there were so many other big, beautiful arrangements. I thought they made mine look like the Charlie Brown Christmas tree.

Finally, by about 8 p.m., I was plenty ready to relax and watch TV for a while. Tonight, we saw the movie, "K-PAX," a 2002, PG-13, film starring Kevin Spacey and Jeff Bridges. A man (Kevin Spacey), believing he is from the planet K-PAX, becomes a psychiatric patient treated by a psychiatrist (Jeff Bridges), who becomes fascinated by the patient, who more and more sounds authentic.