09/22/2026
Now that the last of the pens are down and the final sawdust is swept, and I've taken a long hot shower, I feel human enough to post our fair recap.
We had a great but exhausting week at the county fair! Some award highlights include Best of Show in the cake division for apple cake and Best of Show in the decorated cake division for cupcakes that looked like corn. We also got first place for our mixed grass hay which was exciting given how bad a hay year it has been, and first for our grape jelly made with grapes from our own vines (which i feel makes it extra special since a lot of times jellies and jams are made with sourced fruit, and we also had a bad grape year due to the late frosts)
For sheep we took home Champion for our medium wool Jacob ram Wally and our medium wool Jacob ewe Marigold as well as Champion long wool Lincoln ewe, Maize and our long wool Lincoln ram, Hercules.
We also got to talk to so many people about sheep and wool at the Charles County Farm Bureau 250th event on Sunday! What a hit. We even bought half a hog at the livestock auction, because pigs are something we don't ever intend to raise, but...bacon🥓😆
I can't send a fair recap without expressing my gratitude to the village that it takes to get through a fair season. From RJ who helped me when our ram decided to turn his horns into one of those mind puzzle things by getting tangled in the gate panels, to our families who helped with everything from showing and wool demonstrations to picking up entries and entertaining our kids, to the incredible photographer with Blue Moon Photo Studios whose photo gallery I can't wait to see (because it's hard to take pictures with sheep in your hands) to the so many of you who came by and visited and watched and supported us.... I'm sure I'm missing so many...
All this to say-- another Charles County Fair is in the books. Some of the most satisfying exhaustion there is 😌
