Green Acres

What a week we had at the Eastern Michigan STATE Fair!  Our first time raising and showing pigs turned out to be a satisfying and successful endeavor and although we talked about taking the next summer off the boys are gung-ho to get at it again with a new strategy to improve on what they've already accomplished.  While I knew that the chance of winning in the market categories was pretty slim I put out an incentive to the boys that if they both placed in Showmanship I would purchase their ride tickets for them.  They both had money saved to buy their own ride bands.  Benjamin placed 6th for Showmanship in the Pre-Junior class up against some very good showman who already had a few years under their belt.  His barrow (Rocky) took 5th in his market class and his pair came in 3rd, he also got 2nd Place for his Record Book.

Ethan really surprised me by receiving the Champion Beginner Showman award.  He had great energy in the ring, stayed by his pig and kept her off the fence, and what the judge like most when he spoke with him in the holding pen was his confidence.  Great job, buddy!  His gilt did not receive any recognition in market class but she was great to work with for showmanship and the friendliest of all three hogs.  Ethan also won an iPod Touch for getting the most trophy sponsors and ads for the program book, which probably meant more to him than any other ribbons he could have won.  Auction was the other unknown going into this adventure.  The day was rainy and they started earlier than they had in past years so the buyers trickled in.  Ben went up 11th and was lucky to get $2 a pound, more buyers came in by the time Ethan, who was 68th, got up there and his went for $2.40 a pound.  These are both legit prices and from what I'm told our county is very blessed by the support of families, farms, and businesses in the area; at many other fair auctions the kids are lucky to get $1 per pound for their animals.

There was a bit of disorientation in the indoor open project area this year due to new people being in charge of various categories.  I honestly think my paper articles and plastic articles didn't even get judged.  They didn't get ribbons and yet I saw no other projects in those categories.  One of my photos from the capitol building got 2nd Place and a wildflower arangement got 3rd.  Besides watching my own boys show I always enjoy watching some of the dairy and beef showmanship, this year I watched the Cloverbuds who are all kids under 9 years old that work with mostly dairy calves.  The woman who oversees this program deserves super kudos for her time, patience, expertise, and the fact that all the kids did great.  Happy, confident and so proud to be in the show ring was the vibe they exuded.  Silly to some, but my other Fair week highlight is always watching the elephants get washed.  This year I chatted with some tough, burly guys that help run the fairgrounds, who were just as fascinated with the task as I was.  Ethan enjoyed watching the Super 8 race Wednesday evening too.  Four calves were born in the FFA tent and a very uncomfortable sow finally began to deliver on the last day, two piglets were out this morning but more were still to come as they carefully relocated her in the farrowing crate back to the Ed-Tech Center.

It is so fun to see everyone at load up time heading out with new animals, we came home with 6 chicks, another family from our club brought home a goat to be a buddy for their mini-horse, I saw lots of chickens, geeseand rabbits being put into trailers and they didn't even have enough quails for all the people who wanted some.  We were hoping to add another rabbit to our menagerie but I didn't win one in the silent auction, however, in selling off some of our rabbit cages I hit it off with a family that is breeding Holland Lops and will stay in touch to purchase a baby when they're ready.  Ethan wants to show rabbits next year in addition to swine and we found a club to join for that.  Benjamin is VERY interested in working with cows so we're seriously discussing him getting involved with FFA (Future Farmers of America) to learn about them at their facilities without having to have them on our property yet.  I told him if he continues to raise hogs and sell them he can have a beef steer when he has enough money to purchase it himself and gets a set-up on our property that is adequate to take care of it properly.  We'll see how it goes.

As soon as the pigs were trailered off to Fair I got busy and rototilled the field area. My three sons helped me get it raked out and put down boards for paths and I planted a late season garden on Monday.  Just went back to check things out once I got the van unloaded and chicks settled in.  After several days of rain followed by warmth I already have beans, peas, rutabaga, spinach, and lettuce popping up!

So Robert is still in Chile for work, the boys are off for a week of camping in Port Crescent State Park with their grandparents, and I am going to tackle some more house projects and enjoy the quiet.

Hope you're enjoying your August days as much as we are!

We've Got a Winner!

Greetings all, hope things are going according to plan in your neck of the woods. The vibe around here has seriously shifted to a more laid back, dare I say boring pace.

The mandala for this posting is Quiet Water Mandala by Janet Karam that I found on Daily Painter's Abstract. Click on the name to visit.


We spent several days up at the Eastern Michigan Fair last week, watching the swine happenings so the boys will know what to expect next year when we finally invest in the animals, and trust me it is definately an investment. Most kids barely break even at the auction but it is a great experience in many aspects. Benjamin received a Best in Show for his book that he entered and Ethan received one for a Lego helicopter he put in. For each 5 projects the kids entered they could put their name in a drawing for a FREE ride pass. Ben won!

It's been several years since we've been involved in 4H. My oldest daughter was into it big time when we were homeschooling, enrolling in a Rabbit club, Sheep club, recycled crafts club and others. They used to give premiums for the top picks in each category but now the only reason to enter projects is to get daily passes to get into the fair to take care of your animals everyday. Both my flower arrangements got Third Place, my paper item got First (I think it was the only one in the category), and the photo below took Second Place in Photography: Architectural.

Watching showmanship is always a blast for me, the accomplishment and execution of those young people out there is truly inspiring. Have you ever tried keeping a pig, a sheep, or a cow under control? Trust me, it isn't easy and some of these kids are naturals with it. The boys and I observed and discussed the various techniques the kids used, I prefer the kinder, gentler method as opposed to whapping the poor animal to death. Seeing the girls in their bling-bling cowgirl belts was kinda cool too.

Talk about some serious animal upkeep and maintainence....elephant baths, looks like you pretty much take a bath with them those hoses are so super-powered!

Fun times on the rides, for kids only this year. Ben and Ethan made the rounds with a buddy on their own this year since I can NOT do round and round rides any more. I can handle a roller coaster no problem but don't take me in circles. We set up various check in times during the day and they rode while I wandered around, bumped into friends and chatted, put bids in on some silent auctions for plants in the Master Gardener building and a Holland Lop in the Rabbit barn/tent. I even checked out some of the equestrian events as well which I hadn't done before. This is another amazing and inspiring group.....horse people.

Fox started cross-country practice this week. There really weren't many kids there at all, hopefully next week will host a better turn out or we may be in jeopardy of loosing the program all together. Ben and Ethan are playing U12 soccer together this year and had their first practice on Thursday. Francisco, who was on Ben's U10 team is on his team again. This kid is awesome, it's in his blood, no doubt, and both boys know they can learn a lot from him.

Me, I've been finally getting the scales to move in the opposite direction hitting the trails with my bike whenever possible, went on the Paint Creek Trail a couple weeks ago and will be going on it again this week, hit the Water Tower trail in Lapeer and cruised around town several times, and I've taken my wheels up to North Branch and rode throught the streets while Fox is at practice. Even tried taking the dog biking with me....it went ok but I won't do it regularly, too risky. Thankfully we didn't hurt each other, and I wore Jake out but good! Today I put a speedometer/odometer on my bike all by myself so I can keep better track of how many miles I do. Now that the weather is cooling down I really want to get in some serious trail time, some run - I ride.