More Fair Fun!

We went down to the fair again last night - actually, I had to take some medication in for the calves for in their feed - there was a sick feeder calf earlier this week in the barns (little wonder with all the fans that were running) and wouldn't you know, 1 of our calves now has a snotty nose. I hate medicating them, but on the other hand, we can't have Oreo bringing something home to everyone in the whole herd. And even though we vaccinated them, they could still carry something in. We don't feed medicated feeds ever, and we were hoping when we moved in last week that we could get on the end all by ourselves but...no such luck.

But, we did get to see the Budweiser Clydesdale's up close and personal last night. As I was pulling in, Todd called me, if the kids and I could get to the other side of the fairgrounds by his booth:

They would be stopping right in front of it for people to take pictures! So the kids and I went over there and got to see this:

They are so beautiful. Of course, Jessie had a million questions, and she walked right up to one of the Budweiser employees and was asking him - he was great talking to her. He told her the names of every horse and the dog, what they eat, where they are from - Saint Louis, Missouri, how many teams there are in the United States - 5 teams? - she forgets! and there are over 250 Clydesdales total (between breeding stock, teams, young horses, etc.)

I did get over to the Home Ec. building to take pictures of my quilts, and the quilt that won the class the pinwheel quilt was in:

Tonight is the demo derby and move out night - ought to be another late night!

And yes, I have to wonder what it teaches some of these kids when their parents will go out and spend big bucks on their market animals, and their parents will do all the work while the kids run around, but believe me....our kids know right up front they will never have grand champion anything (unless we breed a really, really good one) and they are fine with that. Jessie is more concerned with making some money for college or a car than having that purple felt banner that they hand out (as she told the friend who was helping us groom the calves before the show when he asked her if she wanted grand champion steer one year - why would I want grand champion steer - so I can get a purple felt banner? If I want a banner, I'm sure my mom could make me one - that's nothing special!). We all got a good chuckle out of that one.....

Kris

Fair Fun!!

The Budweiser Clydesdales after one of their performances (and no, they did not hand out free samples:))


Tyler and my nephew, Kelton walking round the fair.

Can I just mention how much we have loved the fair????? Although we've had some rather late nights.....

We decorated Thursday night from 6:00 to 9:30, Friday afternoon was move-in and set up day (we were there until 11:00 p.m.), and it's been fun ever since.


And in taking the photos off my camera, I didn't think I had taken that many pictures....but I did.....57 of them to be exact - in 5 days.....

Tyler and Jessie both did the kiddie tractor pull.....





Neither Tyler nor Jessie actually placed in the tractor pull - Tyler pulled 44 inches out of 50, and Jessie pulled 26 inches out of 50. They had an actual mini tractor pulling sled for the kids - Tyler's class (4 and 5 year olds - there were 54) had to pull 80 lbs. Jessie's class (the 8 and 9 year olds - there were 46) had to pull 200 lbs. If you go to my Mom's blog - she had better pictures!

Rode on rides.......










And the girls showed their calves......


The girls did fantastic for their first year of showing beef animals. Emily got a 6th out of 11 with her feeder calf and a 7th out of 15 in showmanship. Kara got 5th out of 8 in the feeder calf class and 9th out of 15 in showmanship. The problem is (as in any fair) some of these people go all out - the calf that got grand champion feeder calf they spent $2,500 for the calf. But heck, the grand champion market lamb the parents spent $7,000 on!?!?!? (and they might get $500 out of it at the sale tonight). And we just pulled ours out of the field. But the girls had fun, and they are anxious to show again next year. And as we say....our kids will probably never ever be in the running for grand champion - I just cannot see spending that kind of money.

And the kids got to play with their friends for days on end. That is our camper in the background that we had down there. Cheerleaders in the making here?

We also have a camper down there for food - what a blessing! I think I've spent $60 so far, and that includes the tickets for both Todd and I to get in and ride passes one day for the kids ($18). Of course, we are eating way too well with 3 families bringing in food....

And my quilts. I don't have pictures yet (heck, I didn't even get to that end of the fairgrounds until Saturday to see how they did. The pinwheels took 3rd out of 26, and my chicken table topper took 3rd out of 22 or 23. So I'm happy.

We are going back to the fair tonight - so I will make sure I get down there where the quilts are to get some pictures. The 1st place quilt in my class was absolutely beautiful!

Hope everyone has a wonderful week!
Kris

The Last First day of Preschool

Today was Tyler's last first day of preschool - and the little stinker didn't want me there to get him on the bus. In theory, it's better this way (as he might refuse to go if I am there - he has done that in the past), but....

So I dropped them off at the neighbors this morning, took my quilt into the fairgrounds and headed in to work. After I drove back home because I forgot to let the chickens out.

And yes, he still has his mowhawk. He had a soccer game last night, I had to do laundry when we got home and chores as Todd was working late, and I didn't want him up until 10:00 just so I could cut his hair.

Coach Hud was out there last night playing with Tyler's hair, and now wants me to dye it red for the rest of the games to match his shirt. I told him when he lets me do his son Cole's hair the same way, then I will dye Tyler's hair.....

DONE!!!

Well, the 30's pinwheel quilt is done. Binding sewn on, loose threads snipped.

Not my best quilting job - not my worst. The borders have just a couple waves in them. Don't know what I did (and at this point, I really don't care:))

Now I just have to drop it off at the fairgrounds before 9:30 tomorrow morning. And put Tyler on the bus for his last first day of preschool.

Kris

Chicken wranglers

We got the chicken run ready for them to go out....




And none of them would go out. So we toss them all outside - they run back in. Tyler and Jessie toss them out. They run back in. This has been repeated for several days. Tyler and Jessie are getting to be old pros at moving them around, at least.


Finally, this morning, after a week, the older ones walked out on their own when Tyler opened the door.....

I'm hoping they are just unsure ...

Happy Labor Day

I feel like all I did was work this weekend - but we actually had a really, really good weekend!





Tyler and Jessie both had soccer games - and can I just brag a little - Todd and I were there for both games - and we lost track of the goals that Tyler scored when he hit 6 goals - I think there were 4 or 5 after that! He was a scoring machine on Saturday!!! Jessie did very well - had some good passes - and she was able to run fairly well!!:






He has another game tonight - which he is super pumped for already!




My 2nd water garden pond was dug (we still need to put stone around the edges, but....it's dug):








The 2 feeder calves that are going to the fair were clipped:







We went and brought these 3 heifers Monday afternoon at a private treaty auction:






My quilt for the fair is DONE! except for the binding, which will go on this afternoon once I get some green thread that matches the backing. I'll post a picture of it tonight. I'm not totally in love with this quilt - the colors are awfully bright to my way of thinking, but I'm very happy with it.

Fair starts Saturday, but we will be down there Thursday and Friday as well decorating and moving in. And Todd gets to be the sheep man this year too - the girls also have sheep, and their father works for our local electric company and he got called down to Louisiana to work for 2 weeks, so he'll be missing fair. Todd was groaning about having to help haul in their sheep and help them get ready to show - but I think he's going to have fun with this. It will be good practice for him for next year, really.

See ya,
Kris

What a week

I've been working like a maniac on this quilt - it will be done by Sunday!

These pictures were taken a couple days ago. I have just 1 corner left to quilt, and I'm stopping on my way home to find some binding fabric.

I've been running here and there - soccer practice, 4-H, walking calves. The camper that we borrowed to use at the County Fair next week - needed a new tongue jack. So I had to drive 40 min. away to Akron to pick one up. At least Tyler and I got to stop at my Mom's and see her for a little bit.

And we have finally gotten some rain. Not enough, but a start. So I'm sure my garden is overflowing with peppers and more tomatoes. Never fear though - I'm going to be running the dehydrator full tilt this weekend drying onions, garlic, tomatoes and the various peppers. I'm tired of canning, tired of freezing (although another batch of tomato sauce would be nice!).

See ya,

Kris