Friday, July 19

Up at 6 a.m. to get ready for water aerobics. It was relatively cool this morning, but foggy. The early morning sun shining through the fog on the college campus created a pleasing ethereal glow, casting the trees and buildings into silhouette.

The pool was warmer today, though only about ten of us showed up for aerobics. We had a good workout, and I was back home just after 9 a.m.

I wasted no time in getting ready for the day, so that we could go to the fairgrounds for Senior Day. We arrived around 10:30 and proceeded to tour the commercial building, where we registered for prizes at the various business booths.

Then Mother and I went through the women's building to browse the crafts. Wow, crafts entries are really down this year, as are exhibits in all areas. Whole sections of the vegetable and plant exhibit area were bare. The animal barns fared pretty well, since the exhibits are entered by 4-H members.

There was a nice gathering of senior citizens for a sandwich lunch, sponsored by the local Area Agency on Aging, but not as many attended as usual. I'm not sure why, since admittance to the event was free, and lunch was only $2. Besides that, the weather was pleasant. The number of nice door prizes was about the same, and we managed to win an oil change.

The local newspaper reported that attendance at the fair has been down by about a thousand per day. Can't blame it on the weather, since it has been reasonably mild for July, unlike last year, which was a real scorcher. From what I'm reading online, declining county fair numbers seems to be a trend in many states. I'm not sure what the cause is...maybe folks are just watching their money. Or maybe with the variety of  other entertainments available, county fairs just don't excite folks anymore.

Lunch this time was chicken salad sandwiches, slaw, baked potato chips, and half an orange. Beverages were bottled water and little cartons of punch. The meal was fine, except that the chips were cheddar cheese flavored, colored with yellow dyes number 5 and 6.

Back home, we relaxed for a while and watched a couple of episodes of  "Wind at My Back." Later, Mother helped me make an egg casserole. I sauteed Vidalia onions, bell peppers, and mushrooms that Mother diced, and then we layered those with leftover sauteed potatoes, a few strips of bacon left from last night, and a few slices of tomatoes.

Poured egg substitute over that, and added bread crumbs and American cheese, and popped the dish in the oven for a while.  Made a batch of white gravy, and baked a can of biscuits. Served the meal with cantaloupe, and cups of steaming coffee.

After supper, we watched a few more episodes of "Wind at My Back," until 9:30, when Mother was finally ready to go home. Tonight, she kept nodding off during the shows, but insisted she wanted to keep watching them.

Hubbie accompanied Mother to her house, and then we watched a one-hour show, which took us up to the 10 p.m. news. Headed to bed after that.