Day one....and still alive

We survived the first official day at the fair. Yesterday was the day we took all our non-livestock exhibits, the chickens and rabbit in. The poultry show was in the afternoon and Suzanna got A ribbons for both her market and production chickens. Both pens were considered for grand champion by the judge, which was neat.

This morning we hurried around to catch the banty hen and her chicks to take for the Barnyard Children exhibit. Then it was time for the rabbit show. Thomas tried his hand at Rabbit Showmanship and got a cute trophy for his time. Suzanna participated in showmanship for her age group and came away disappointed. There were 12 kids in her class and she didn't place (5 placings are given out). I chatted with the judge after the show and he was very impressed with her age group and said there were only a couple points separating most kids in the class. He gave us a few pointers for next year.

Her breeder rabbit was the second place California doe. She was second to her litter mate and that rabbit was the eventual best of show, so we thought we were in good company there.

Our neighbors and fellow dairy exhibitors hauled Rhoda and Fancy in for us. Worked out well, they have the stock trailer and we had the truck. With the Rabbit show starting at 10am, it would have been a lot harder to get the heifers hauled in and be ready for the show. The less rush the better in our world.

Daddy kept up with the electrical projects at the fairgrounds and managed to be busy all day. The kids and I took in the annual talent show. That was an interesting event. I have to say, just cause you sound good in the shower, it isn't always a good idea to take it public....lets just leave it at that.

The BIG event as far as Thomas was concerned was the combine demolition derby. Yes, someone came up with the great idea that it would be fun to modify a traditional combine into an instrument of destruction. The goal of this spectacle is the be the last combine standing. We watched a couple "heats" and it was kinda fun. We stood by an "expert" on the sport. He had been to several demo derbies over the past several years and told us all about the strategy they utilize. Mostly try to take out the drive belt or a back tire. The neat part about the whole thing was the crowd that was drawn to the fairgrounds to watch it. Being a part of the fair as we are through both 4-H and doing the electrical work for it, we are always hoping for a great year for the fair. With the economy in Michigan being what it is, seeing the infield parked full and the grandstand packed was a good sign. Hopefully that trend will continue through the rest of the week. For now, I have another load of laundry to fold and need to get to bed.

You haven't lived 'til you wash a chicken

or in our case four of them. The fair has arrived and first up on the schedule is the chicken show. The market chickens made weight with no problem which is a major improvement over last year. A pen of two chickens has to weigh at least 7 pounds to qualify. Last year we just skated in with one hen weighing 3.75 and the other weighing in at 3.25. This year they each weigh right around 5 pounds.

The brilliant minds from who knows where decided that chickens should be washed before they are shown. Why, when they are on a road of no return??? A week from tomorrow they will be headed for the stew pot. Anyway, we follow orders, and they have been washed and blow dried (wouldn't want them to catch cold!). The house reeks of wet chicken and the dog and cat are sizing them up for dinner.

All the non-livestock projects are ready for entry. The heifers have been clipped. The stalls are bedded and the hay has been hauled in. The camper is set, the food is cooked. Get the sense that I am nearly organized for this spectacle??? You would be right. I keep wondering what I forgot, since I am feeling really on top of things this year.

I will keep you posted on how well I feel by the middle or the end of the week. I will try not to talk about my aching feet or back or the fact that I am tired. That will be a challenge!!!!!

The Birthday Girl.....

here was Suzanna the day we brought her home from the hospital........

And here she was tonight blowing out 11 candles on her cake....she got them all, hope all her wishes come true.

Saying Goodbye....

Snoopy was vetted this afternoon and despite my smarty pants trainer trying to scare me over a sudden and never before heard of leg injury, he passed with flying colors. This is a melancholy moment, as I was working at trainer Mike's and spent a few minutes saying good bye to my horse. I know there are many more standing in the pasture, but I still get sad about it. He was born on our farm and I have been responsible for his care ever since. I can't help but be a little saddened to see him go to a new home. Not that life there won't be good....I suspect from talking with his new owner his life will be pretty cushy. She sounds like she will spoil him rotten. And I expect that come next year, we will proudly see our prefix at many shows throughout the Kansas area as Snoopy wins lots of blues for his new owner.

We in the meantime move onto the next project. That will be Storm. She is headed for driving training.....right after we get through the Fair. I am halfway through my sewing projects....Emma's costume is done, Kathryn's just needs some elastic in the waistband. Then all I need to do is sew her dress. We are coming down to the wire. One heifer was trimmed last night, and the other will get done this evening before church. I just keep knocking things off the list.

Finally, Happy Birthday Suzanna!!!!

Our oldest turns 11 today. Wow time has flown. She took doughnuts and cider for her class this morning and is planning to take a treat to Kids Club tonight at church. Sometimes I think her birthday gets sidetracked with all the horse show and fair stuff that is going on right now, but she doesn't seem too bothered by it. Maybe it makes it more of a party for her, since it takes about two weeks to get the celebrating with family finished up.

Boy am I tired....

what a long weekend....fun, but long. The horse show went well. Lilly, the filly, placed 8th in the Sweepstakes class on Saturday night. There were 27 babies in that class, so to get a placing was great. Henry didn't make "the cut" and I was disappointed, but he is still wonderful in my opinion.

Both foals showed back in their baby classes yesterday and Lilly came away with a 5th and Henry got a 6th, which were both good placings. There were some really nice foals there and I think our breeding program was well represented.

With Futurity behind us, we are heading into the home stretch for fair week. I have to get Kathryn's outfit done for the dog show and her costume as well. So I am off to the sewing machine this morning, along with catching up from a weekend away.

Snoopy has his vet check on Wednesday and it looks like the shipper should be picking him up by the end of the week. Then after we recover from the fair, Storm will head to Trainer Mike's to get her training underway. And the babies will get to come home for the winter.

Off to the sewing room.

Tying up loose ends....

That has kept me busy the last couple days. I am heading to the Shiawasee Fairgrounds this morning for the Michigan Morgan Breeders Futurity and Show. Henry went up last night to get settled in and Lilly is coming from a different trainers barn and will arrive tonight. I will be staying two nights away from the zoo, so I have been getting everything and everybody organized.

In the meantime, God blessed the garden and the kids picked 2 bushels of tomatoes the other night. That, combined with the bushel and a half last week has my tomato needs fulfilled. I made 20 pints of tomato juice, 18 pints of salsa and canned 28 quarts of whole tomatoes. Only thing left to do in the canning department is some green tomato relish and green tomato mincemeat. I will get after that early next week.

Had to get everything organized for the 4-H club too. As I have mentioned more than once, the fair is coming up the last week of this month. Bunnies need ear tattoos in order to go and one of the dads in the club is going to take care of that. Chickens have to be tested and certified "pullurium free" as well. One of the club moms is certified to do the testing, so she is handling that tomorrow as well. The kids also get their passes and have their project reports signed too. I am fortunate that there are great parents in the club who can jump in and take care of this stuff while I am away.

The kids and daddy will head up to the show tomorrow afternoon so they can watch the two babies show tomorrow evening. By about 8pm tomorrow night, we should know how our little ones placed. Pins and needles until then!!!!

Too Much Fun!!!!

Yesterday, neighbor Melissa and I headed off to the annual extravaganza held at Hillsdale College called the Women's Commissioners Rummage & Treasure sale. The college field house is transformed into a treasure trove of bargains from clothing to jewelry to antiques to books to.....well you get the point. Actually I hear there is jewelry, antiques and books, but did not witness it personally. That would be because we both carted off enough clothing for the whole family and never had a chance to get to all the other good stuff.

After a couple hours in the place, Melissa had to be pulled out of there kicking and screaming. She kept mumbling something about knowing she was missing something great in another department. But lets be realistic, when you have to stack a huge pile of sweatshirts and then tie them together with a pair of sweatpants in order to carry them out, it might be time to call it a day. Of course she had to do that because the one bag she brought to carry stuff in was already stuffed beyond its limits and more was spilling out of the top. Of course, she would have had two bags if she would have been more selfish and let me fend for myself rather than giving that second bag to me. Don't worry, I will be so prepared when we do it again next year. Anyway I hope I get to go back with her next year.

In the end, I can't feel too guilty about being the sensible one in the expedition, since she gets to go back this morning for round two. That would be where everything you can stuff in a bag costs $2. I have to take my mom to a doctors appointment, or believe me I would be right there with her!! Hope you have fun today Melissa.....and do you even know what a Women's Commissioner is??? Let me know.

It's not over 'til the vet check is complete.....

but I just got the word from Trainer Mike that Snoopy will have a new home in Kansas on October 1st. The buyer and a friend came to Michigan and spent the afternoon and evening with us, enjoying "horse time". Laura had the opportunity to ride him, spoil him and utterly fall in love with him. She joked that it was too bad he wouldn't fit in her carry-on to take back to Kansas with her.

The only thing we are waiting on at this point is the veterinary to come out and do a pre-purchase exam. Kinda like an home inspection when you buy a house. Shouldn't be a problem, but everyone is always nervous until it is completed. She will be hiring a horse hauler to get him to her farm, which is about 15 hours from Michigan. Upon making the announcement, Thomas was in tears. He has suddenly taken a big interest in the horses and doesn't want any of them to be sold. Tough time for him.

I am excited at the thought of him being sold. She sounds like her animals are all spoiled rotten. But it is a bit melancholy too. These horses are born and raised here and it is sad to see them go....but only until the check is in the bank!!!! Then it is on to the next project. That will be Storm, the two year old filly. She will be heading to the barn as soon as Futurity is over to get started on her training program. Time marches on, as they say.

At the end, I am thanking the Lord for a great buyer. It is nice to know how well loved and cared for Snoopy will be. Makes parting with him a little bit easier.

Toe-may-toe? Toe-mah-toe??

Doesn't matter how you say it, that's where I have been most of the day. Next door neighbor was on her walk last week when I came up the road. Stopped to chat and the subject of canning tomatoes came up. She had been getting them from her dad's garden and had enough. She wondered if I would like the next batch. Considering how slowly mine are ripening, I jumped at the chance and told her to give me a call.

Last night the call came in and she and I went over to her dad's to pick. I ended up with a bushel and a half. So they occupied most of my day, in between errands.

Emma went to the groomers today. I must say I am disappointed. I specifically asked the owner if she had done Springer's. She assured me that she had and showed me the picture of a Springer in her huge breed poster. I left a rather worried Emma at her shop this morning with the promise she would be ready by 1pm. When I picked her up, I knew something didn't seem quite right. The more I thought about it, the more it bothered me. Finally, late this afternoon it hit me. While the groomer had trimmed up the "feathers" on Emma's front legs, the ones on her back legs were completely gone. I went on line to the Springer website and confirmed that that isn't how she should have been done!!!!! I know that it is only hair and will grow back, but it isn't right!!!!! And off she will go to the 4-H dog show at the fair in just two weeks. What a bummer!!!!

The rest of the day was canning 7 quarts of tomatoes....boy that canner takes FOREVER to come to a boil and did up 5 pints of 14-day pickles too. Quickly added up time cards so I could do payroll, since those guys really like to be paid. Worked up a bank deposit, pulled the jars out of the canner, headed off to get the kids at school. Today was payday for them, so they had money to burn at WalMart. I got groceries and happily headed for home.

I put another half bushel of tomatoes in my big pot with onions, celery and garlic and heated that up for juice. I will let it cool overnight and then skim off some of the water off so that my juice will be a little thicker. I was at an auction several years ago and was the last bidder on a juicer. It is a great little invention that separates the skin and seeds from the tomato pulp. It is much easier to run then an old fashioned Foley Food Mill.

I will get the juice made tomorrow morning first thing, since tomorrow my potential buyer is heading to Michigan to meet and hopefully fall in love with Snoopy. Time will tell.

Oh, and I say toe-may-toe!!

Labor Day....The Conclusion

Hay making went well yesterday. We, well more precisely my hubby and father-in-law, put up 67 bales of grass hay and 260 bales of alfalfa. Almost all of it was stacked on the wagons this time around rather than the hay liner. That would be because 3rd cutting was good and we can sell this hay, rather than put it in the hay mow. I got involved in another aspect of hay farming yesterday. I got to take a wagon load of hay to a customer about 5 miles away. I had never pulled a load of hay down the road. Thankfully my mother-in-law was able to ride shotgun and give me a few pointers. It wasn't tough, but it was nice to have someone ride along. What is left we will either sell to the neighbor up the road or at the Saturday hay auction in town.

I took these pictures of my hay guys. This would be a three generation shot of Grandpa Bob driving the tractor, hubby and Thomas are on the wagon. Hubby's bales are a bit heavy, so Thomas was more there for "moral support" then actual stacking assistance. A couple more years and the two of them will make a great team.

Here are Thomas and his daddy. Like I said, Thomas was moral support, at best. Actually, at this point, he was attempting to play games on his dad's cell phone. Of course, as soon as he spotted me with the camera, he had to pose. He is a natural ham. His grandpa jerked him around on the wagon pretty good. At one point while they were stopped to check the moisture in the bales, he requested that grandpa not change gears quite so much and just leave it alone. Grandpa just laughed.

I am off to the kitchen to can some tomatoes. They are coming on slowly. It seems to take a couple pickings to make enough to fill the canner. I don't think it is going to be a great year. Seems like they aren't quite ripened on the top, but are rotting on the bottom. Too much water I think. Never are quite satisfied with it are we???

Labor Day Holiday

I live in a household where a day off is actually a day to get lots done. Anyway that is how my hubby works. He cut hay last week and it all should be ready today. His dad has been here for at least two hours, putting new teeth on the rake and the new batteries into the tractor.

This weekend we hit a major milestone too. Saturday morning, Thomas went out to the hay field to ask his dad a question. Next thing I saw was Thomas in the seat and daddy riding the fender, showing him how to tedder hay. Then before long, Thomas was alone on the tractor and his daddy was working on something else, keeping an eye to the field. Sniff...sniff. I have been told by my in-laws that their kids were doing tractor stuff when they were a lot younger than Thomas. Many stories are told about this child or another driving the tractor with the baler, or raking a huge field of hay. I have held out as long as I could, but I suppose it is time and a right of passage. Thomas would have done it three years ago if we would have let him. He LOVES tractors.

So on this Labor Day Holiday, it won't be much of a holiday around here. The weather is warm and sunny with a little breeze blowing. Perfect hay drying weather. I sure am grateful for that rain we got, (about 12 inches in one month according to Dad's rain gauge) because third cutting is looking good.

Don't Get Your Hopes Up......

that is what I keep telling myself. We have a potential buyer for our gelding, Knolltop's Fact Finder, aka Snoopy. Isn't he handsome???

After Michigan All Morgan, trainer Mike said he was ready to be advertised, so I put him on three different "Horse For Sale" websites. I was thrilled with all the responses I got. One from Kansas requested a video. Through a bunch of stuff that was not my fault, no video has been produced yet. The lady even called me on the phone to make sure I knew how much she loved my horse. So last evening, she made the decision that she would just fly out to Michigan this coming weekend to see the horse. She is afraid someone else will buy him if she doesn't get out here SOON!

Here's where not getting my hopes up comes in. I have been in the horse business for about 10 years now, and selling them has not been my strong point. Collecting them, yes, but selling not so good. I have had many people through the years contact me after an ad runs, but then something happens and it would fall through. So in my mind I just can't believe that someone is going to buy this horse. I have an I will believe it when I cash the check mentality, that way I am not disappointed. I need to spend some time talking to God about it. He knows how this will end, so I need to leave it up to him.