Love-A-Fair Flowers

Sorry this is so delayed. I forgot they were in que to be posted:

I love taking photos. I love flowers and plants. I love photographing flowers and plants. So my first stop at the Fair was to the flower/plant section. :) Here are a few that made me smile. All of my photographs are Straight Out of Camera. I don't edit them with any programs. So when I get home and see pictures like these, I smile. I love my camera. Though we do have a love hate relationship when the battery is getting low and it doesn't want to actually take a photograph. But without further ado,

Bonsai!


I love flowers in color, but there is something special about a black & white photograph.



Orchids - Colors!



And my favorite of the day: (I may just have to print it off and put it in the my kitchen!)

Love-A-Fair Patrons

So a few weeks ago, we went to the North Carolina State Fair. I so enjoy going to the fair to eat food and to take photos. I hate the crowds, I hate the far away parking, the crowds and all the walking and did I mention the crowds.

Now this may sound horrible, but one thing I love to do at the fair is watch people. This is North Carolina folks. We are some funny creatures. I got to the fair and there was something right away that I went, "If I see that again, I will have to take a photograph." My camera was in the backpack and not ready for picture taking. I thanked my lucky stars when walking, I saw the family again. Even more so when I realized the person was posing for me. I laughed a thousand laughs at this: Look a Squirrel.



Get this kid a contract. Quick!



Dude with a brush in his back pocket. Seriously?



And last, but not least: Leopard Love ...



And that my fair weathered friends is what we see at the NC State Fair.

Busy Busy Busy

I've been really busy lately. I've had several HBOTS, gone to the fair, worked hard and gone to a college friend's wedding. He eloped. Sort of. He & his now wife were going to get married on Saturday. Then, they had to postpone it for some legal and medical reasons. Then those things fixed themselves so they decided on a Thursday to go ahead and get married on the Saturday. I was called and I drove there after my HBOT treatment. It was fun . I got to meet his newly loved lady (it was love at first sight for them), her child and his children. I got to hang out with them all over the ceremony. See his folks for the first time since college graduation in 99. So that was fun.

The Fair. Well I have pictures to post, but haven't gotten around to all of them yet. They'll show up eventually.

HBOTs are going well. I actually really enjoy getting in there. It's odd. I thought I'd hate it. I thought I'd dread it. BUT, I actually like getting in there now. It's 60 to 90 minutes where I have some peace and quiet. I get to listen to my favorite music and just be alone and breathe well. It's nice.

I thought about going to the UNC exhibition game this Friday, but I think I've decided against it seeing as how badly I felt after the Late Night with Roy practice.

Anyways, just thought you needed an update since it's been a while.

A Whole Lotta Favorites

Some more of my favorite photos from the NC State Fair.

Carefully crafted cake for a baby shower.


October is the month for Pumpkins. There were a plethora of pumpkins. I took plenty of photos of a plethora of plump pumpkins, but here is one in solitude.


Carefully and cautiously photographs of cerulean candles.
It's a miracle that I did not fall when taking this.


This fellow was created out of traffic barrels and cones.
A Student stole Barrel and Cones to build a Barrel Monster.
After he was released, a construction company hired him to recreate his Monster.
So this year, the State Fair featured the Barrel Monster and his bride.
His bride was at one of the entrances.
However it was raining when we were leaving so we couldn't take a photo of her.
I wanted to take my photo with him, but there were so many people stalking him
that I didn't feel comfortable holding his hand. :P


Well that's all she wrote folks.

I had a whole lotta happy!

A Whole Lotta Jennifer

Rob took many photos of me that were bad and many of me that were great.
This was one of my favorites. No my legs aren't that short. I just assumed Rob was taking a waist up photo so I put my knees on the bench in the gazebo.

Here is me in a Whole Lotta Chair!



And lastly, I had so much fun at the fair. I hope you all enjoyed
visiting the North Carolina State Fair through my photos.
And thanks to my friend Missy for fixing this photo for me.
I had a huge drink spot on my shirt and she took it right off magically! Love her!

A Whole Lotta Flowers

I absolutely love taking photos of flowers. At the North Carolina State Fair, there were plenty of flowers and things of the sort for me to photograph. Here are a selection of my favorite photos.

This one took exactly one shot. I saw it in my head and I snapped the camera.

This one on the other hand took me about 10 minutes and a bunch of "erases" on the camera.
I knew exactly what I wanted to see in the lens, but I couldn't adjust
my camera to get it just right. Until I remembered the magic word: Macro.
Once I switched settings on the camera, it took one shot! And what a shot it is. :o)



This also took one snap of the camera. I saw it in my head,
snapped the photo and bam .. it was there.
The vibrant colors make me smile.



If one flower makes me happy,
then a whole lotta flowers make me
a whole lotta happy. :o)



Stay tuned for one last post that will share some favorites
that didn't a place in my Whole Lotta Posts.

A Whole Lotta People

The employees at the fair are quite interesting creatures. I wish I had taken a photo of one lady. This lady made my restroom experience quite enjoyable. What? It wasn't dirty, it wasn't nasty and it wasn't crowded. This lady ushered you into the bathroom with her boisterous voice. Several of her phrases included, "If you have to pee, this is the place to be." "Sit down and make your bladder gladder." When all the stalls were full, she announced that they had a full house and momentarily a room would open up. I should have just taken a photo of her.

In the Yesteryear area, there were lots of vendors making things. Here are some photos of the ladies and gentlemen making things. Here is a lady working on the eggs. :o)

It was in here that we found Steve Troxler (our NC Commissioner of Agriculture) walking around from vendor to vendor.

Here was a fellow woodworking ~ he was making a gun.



This guy made me smile. He just had a jovial way about him as you can see.

A Whole Lotta Fun Stuff

When you go to the fair, you can expect to see a whole lotta neat things.
Some are prizes, some are sculptures and some are just plain neat.

First case in point, a sculpture of a cow made out of milk cartons.


Second case in point, a lady carrying a huge Pink Panther.
I wonder how much dough she threw down to "win" Mr. Panther.



Third case in point, Some people are just way too creative with their fruits and
win blue ribbons for their stop light apples.


Then some things are just at the fair for way too long.
Exhibit Number One (and No I won't be sharing with you Exhibit Number Two).



And lastly some more Eggs




Stay tuned for A Whole Lotta People

A Whole Lotta Exhibitions

At the North Carolina State Fair, you can expect a Whole Lotta Exhibitions. In this post, you'll find a whole lotta photos of different things that I thought were unique, cool or neat to photograph. :o)

I asked Rob if he could carve a pumpkin like this for me this Halloween.
He said my expectations were higher than his skill level.

Guess if he can't carve the pumpkin, he can't make these bird houses either.
What's he good for? ;)



I really love Easter Eggs. Easter is a very special holiday that reminds me of my family. We spent every Easter at my Grandparent's house and Easter Egg Decorating was our top priority. Wonder if we could have done something like these.



What's a fair without a whole lotta farm equipment?

A Whole Lotta Food

We only go to the fair every few years. I don't think it would be as fun if we went every year. Plus the past few years, I have been very sick so I would not have lasted an hour (much less the seven that we spent there today).

I really view the whole idea of fairs and carnivals and things of the sort as crowded and dirty. I just prefer to stay away from the whole scene of the fair, but ... the first month or two that Rob & I were together, he took me to the fair. So now we pretty much go every few years. This is the first year I think we've brought the camera and gone hog wild on the photos.

The whole reason I go to the fair is for a Whole Lotta Food! We head in thinking about the foods we want so we won't go crazy eating everything in sight. We know that I have to have Roasted Corn. We know that we have to have something sweet. We know that there will be some sort of "main meal." I can't remember what all we ate today, but we sure took lots of photos of food booths.

One of the Midway Food Booths. We didn't buy anything at this one, but it was pretty to look at.

Another booth of food sugar.


The whole reason I go to the fair is to get a WHOLE LOTTA ROASTED CORN! :o)
This stand even offered a "cheese" version of the corn. I was tempted, but decided to stick with good ole butter & salt. It was a real bargain at 4 dollars for the ear of corn & a bottle of water.

A Whole Lotta Rides

The theme of this years North Carolina State Fair is a Whole Lotta Happy. So I will do my blog posts in the theme of the photos that will be posted. So this post is A Whole Lotta Rides.

We arrived at the fairgrounds around 8:30 in the morning. This gave me the opportunity to take photos of the rides. As you can see in the photo below, it was very cloudy today. Aside from the moments of downpours and massive wind, it was perfect weather. It wasn't too hot and it wasn't too cold.

We were able to get right up close to the rides so we could take close up shots without losing the clarity by using a zoom lens. This was one of my favorite shots of part of one ride.



And here is another:




I personally am not a rider of fair rides. I don't like spending 6 to 8 bucks per ride for one after paying 17 dollars just to get in (7 dollars for the ticket and 10 dollars for parking) for one and for another ... my stomach just does not handle rides. I do, however, enjoy taking photos of them. :o)

And PS: I loved being about to walk around for SEVEN hours yesterday.
I think it's honestly the most I've walked straight
(work doesn't count since I spend most of my day
sitting in a chair teaching a child how to read)
and neither do UNC or WCU games
b.c again I spent most of the time sitting.

My legs are paying the price today. My calves are in brutal pain.
I'm sure it's from the exercise and not from the Lyme.
However, I will keep an eye on it.

Photo Tease

Wherever might I have gone? I wanted to leave you with a taste of what I did today! And btw: You will have the pleasure of having a new post every day the rest of the month.

Oh like my new hair cut?