ticket to ride

photo by Elaine A. Russell

well folks.. here it is. The last day of the last month of the year. In many ways.. it has been a wild ride...but I wouldn't have it any other way. I thought I would end the year with one of my humble haiku poems.....

round and round we go

spinning wildly thru days... months

must eat funnel cake

**don't forget to write and enter in my Anniversary Give-Away! Entries must be submitted by Jan 9th at 9am... simply write to me at moongipsies@msn.com with your likes/dislikes about my blog... and you could win a prize! 9 winners will be chosen, and each will receive a handmade item (scarf, jewelry, art, photography art prints ) or a stash of crafting supplies.

...and now for something completely different to rock in the New Year's

part 3: NM State Fair

photos by Elaine A. Russell

So -- when we last left off... Jim and Elaine were foraging the NM State Fair for sweets and treats :)
And now, ladies and gentlemen... I bring you to the highlight of the fair for most people... the rides and games.

The hubby and I are not ones to usually ride the rides... or play the games... but we do look at everything. And I have had a long fascination with the carousel, so we actually spent alot of time at the 2 different carousels at the State Fair. Plus.. there were lots of shows: Winn's Thrill Show, The Marcan Tiger Preserve, Valentine's Performing Pigs, The Dock Dogs, and The Latest in Game Technology shows. And music ! (too many performers to list).

We strolled around the midway for a couple of hours... taking way too many pictures of rides in action. I was amazed to see some features/ spectacles ... of shows I remember when I was a kid. Such as: the World's smallest Horse, the tiniest woman... etc. The posters for these events seemed straight out of Guinness Book.
Then there were the usual roller coaster type rides, twisting type rides, the epic fall type rides.... you name it. And the Ferris wheel.... the old-time favorite. I love taking photos of Ferris wheels.. so we spent some time there too.

I talked at length to a couple of the "carnies".... both of whom were looking forward to the end of the fair season to go home to their families before the next fair tour in another town. When I was little.. I remember that one of my cousins actually ran away and joined the circus. He spent a couple years cleaning and taking care of the elephants... then we lost track of him. At any rate... I always had a soft spot for the workers at such carnivals.

Anyway.. so there you have it. A magical time at the NM State Fair. Hope you all had a good time... I know I did :)

part 2: The NM State Fair

photos by Elaine A. Russell

After seeing all the art exhibits, our attention turns to the critters at the McDonald's Barn....after all, who can resist baby animals ?? Besides, it's my duty to vote for the baby bunnies as being the cutest. ((bunny lovers unite))

This year, it was actually a tough call for me, because they had brought in a mommy pig and her newborn babies. Gotta say... the pigs were adoreable. They also had chicks, baby ducks, pheasants, roosters, young calves, young kid goats, miniature horses, puppies and kittens.

From there... it was all about the food. Ya gotta love going to State Fair's for the food. Corndogs, frito pies, Indian tacos, french fries, turkey legs.... and our yearly quest... Corn on the cob. I'm talking fresh picked corn on the cob... smathered in butter and sprinkled with lemon pepper seasoning.

Sated and satisfied.... we wandered about looking at the booths of junk fair food. Deep fried oreos, deep fried twinkies..... eesh. Sounds like a heart attack on a stick... and yet, I was tempted to try one. Cotton candy, pretzles, popcorn... Tom Tom mini donuts ! We got a bag and sat on the benches to enjoy their sugary goodness.

And of course, the night doesn't end until you enjoy that last bit of funnel cake.....

More tomorrow on the rides and games !

the NM State Fair

photos by Elaine A. Russell

Fairs and carnivals have always held an interesting allure for me. Aside from a deathly distaste/ distrust of clowns.... it is heaven on a stick. And even the clowns are cool in a macabre point of view.
So it was with great excitement that the hubby and I went on our yearly excursion to the NM State Fair. http://www.exponm.com/fair/

We usually have a few goals in mind:

• see the art exhibits
• see the baby animals (*must vote for the bunnies)
• get fair food (especially corn on the cob and funnel cake)
• take photos
• come home happy and satisfied

And, not unlike in years past... we stayed from mid-afternoon til way after dark.

This year, I was taking photos with a camera that I had only had for about an hour... so I was a bit nervous as to how the photos would actually turn out. But we plunged on in anyway.

First stop was the art exhibits. Wow. I am constantly amazed at the talent here in NM. In the Fine Arts building, we saw gorgeous paintings, cool stained glass and fused glass pieces, mixed media art, and some awesomely cool metal mesh sculptures of the human form. What was so very cool about them, was not just that they were extremely well done... but because of the way they cast these fantastic shadows on the walls. Wow. Unfortunately, no pics allowed in that building.

From there we went to the crafts building. We saw everything from woodcarving, stained glass, dolls, quilts, homemade jams, needlework, coins, altered books and jewelry. And one of our favorite exhibits.. the LEGOS. Demonstrations were being held on woodcarving and book-making. I was able to make a little hand bound book in about 5 minutes (with expert help from LIBROS guild members).(( http://dir.groups.yahoo.com/group/librosnmbag/?v=1&t=directory&ch=web&pub=groups&sec=dir&slk=16 and one member's site: http://atgbooks.com/index.html ))

The photography was displayed this year in the African Arts building. Another WOW. Truly, some excellent stuff out there... and I recognised some names from local FlickR groups.

More on the fair tomorrow !!!