In case you didn't know, the Franklin County Fair was going on last week. Don't feel bad if you missed it. It's a rather lame fair, I must admit. In the rural area where I grew up, the county fair is a HUGE, put-on-your-Sunday-best-type of affair and well, the Franklin County fair pales in comparison. (I assume this is because the majority of Franklin County is comprised of asphalt and suburbia.) However since the fairgrounds are just a stones throw away from my house I decided this year to not only attend but actually participate! Of course, I don't have cattle, swine or goats to exhibit but there is a "Home and Fine Arts" category that I took full advantage of. I entered my strawberry jam, a couple of photographs, several sewing and craft projects and homemade bread. Unfortunately/fortunately (depending on how you look at it) the art of homemaking is NOT alive in central Ohio because due to lack of or in some cases, no competition, I took home a couple of first place ribbons, a couple of second place ribbons and even one best of show ribbon. There is also a nominal amount of money associated with each ribbon which basically covered my entry fees and the exhibitor season pass I was required to purchase. So in the end, I will have walked away with about ten bucks (woo hoo!), a handful of ribbons which I plan to frame and hang in our living room (joking), access to the fair all week (oh yeah) and bragging rights for an indefinite amount of time. Not bad. I think I'll do it again next year.Note: If you live in the Central Ohio area and have some homemaking and/or artistic skills you want to share, you should think about participating. Seriously, the competition is slim to none which drastically increases your odds of winning. In fact, I think it was my sister who said the home and fine arts building at the fair reminded her of a creepy garage sale. If you're interested, find out more information about exhibiting your goods here.