Cabarrus County Fair

After all the hype, tropical storm Hanna sent absolutely nothing our way this weekend. Both Saturday and Sunday were clear and hot! So I was very glad I had held fast to my plans to visit friends and go with them to the Cabarrus County Fair on Saturday. David would have liked to come, too, but he had to fulfill a nursing school requirement and complete a 10-hour shift with an ambulance crew (it went well).

Besides enjoying the company of my friends, I had a great experience at the fair. The highlights were pigs swimming (they actually jumped into the pool!), piglets being born, and a thrilling circus-type show.

Here are the newborn piglets, some already nursing (like pigs!) and two figuring out how to stand up and walk (the one farthest back was born while we watched and, within 15 minutes, successfully made its way over to nurse).



When we arrived at the pen and found out why there was a crowd around it, the sow had already delivered at least five piglets. The farmer predicted she would have around six more. Someone nearby told us that the sow was pushing one out every ten minutes or so, so we stayed for two rounds. Sadly, the second round contained both a live piglet and a stillborn.

They also had two cows set up for milking, which is something I've always wanted to try. But it wasn't worth $2 to me! So we pressed on, looking at the exhibits. When my friends saw a pretend cow ready for milking (rubber teats hooked up to a bucket of water) in the kiddie corral, they encouraged me to give it a try. Wee!