Taralga Show

We had a beautiful day visiting the Taralga Show – or more accurately, the Taralga Agricultural, Pastoral and Horticultural Show, still going strong after 133 years.

I grew up with the city meets country experience of The Sydney Royal Easter Show at the Sydney Showground and have many fabulous memories of going. It was great to see an actual country show such as Taralga’s being so popular and well attended, with something for everyone as we wandered amongst the events and displays. It was excellent to see that there were so many categories where kids could enter and get involved and be encouraged to bring their best, from drawings and photography to cooking, growing produce and raising animals. You can’t have too much encouragement as a kid, can you?

ABC journo Richard Glover also wrote about the show in the Sydney Morning Herald (he attended and officially opened the show), making some interesting observations about ‘fancy work’, the name given to the myriad of creative entries it was a pleasure to see there. You can read his article Preserve the planet with Fancy Work here.

I'm a big mosaic fan, so loved this mirror.

I don’t think the creativity Richard refers to has really ever gone away – my grandmother was creative and so is my mum, I like to think I am too and my daughter probably leaves us all in her creative wake. The creativity on display at the Taralga Show was definitely not restricted to women and girls as the guys were well represented. In light of Richard's article, perhaps what has been lower key in recent years is an appreciation of creative pursuits because of a fear that it might pigeonhole women into the home at the expense of what is being achieved in other spheres of life.

This deserved its first prize - loved it! Words are my jam .... 

I personally derive an enormous amount of satisfaction from both homemaking and being creative, and I love nothing more than coming across other people’s blogs where the simpler pleasures of life are celebrated. Rhonda Hetzel’s blog Down To Earth is a great example and a welcome foil to the rushed pace of life today. It doesn’t matter what your interests are, the ability to be able to meet likeminded people and share in their lives via a computer screen is surely one of the greatest benefits of the internet.

Taralga Show was a beaut day out, a wonderful culmination of the hard work across so many spheres of rural life. The work produced and the encouragement given to everyone to participate, no matter the age or category, was a blessing to see.  

The next generation - lovely to see.

Something for everyone - the sheep counting!

The sheep shearing contest - aka Taralga Quick Shear

Probably the song I like best that describes country living for me is John Farnham's The Simple Life. I think there is a glimpse of heaven in these country skies.