County Fair

We entered some garden produce in the county fair last week.  J took pictures but failed to notice that there was no memory card in the camera so just imagine...

- a huge cabbage with a blue ribbon

- 3 beautiful matching bell peppers with a blue ribbon

- a plate of green beans with a yellow ribbon.

A very successful showing at the fair.

 

Dollywood

Some friends invited us for a weekend at Pigeon Forge.  Of course this meant a day at Dollywood.   We were a little late for the park opening but V, E and I stayed until they shut down at 10 pm.   J wimped out at 7:30. 

 The first ride we went on was the Daredevil Falls so we started out wet and stayed that way all day.

 For some reason J only road the water rides.  He kept calling them "lazy rivers".  He was a little worried that this one was going under the waterfall.  He stayed with a different group watching the shows until late afternoon when he joined us.

 V, E and I road everything we could.  We had a Que Bot which was $15 extra/person but we never had to wait in line.  They made it to the front row of the Tenn. Tornado.  (Note, watch out for bugs if you ride on the front row after dark).

A fun time was had by all.
We even did a little shopping.  V had been wanting to stop at the Buy 1 Get 2 Free boot store.  So now there are 3 new pairs of boots in the house.

Beginning and End

I can't believe this is V's last year of high school.

 It seems like such a short time ago we were sending her off to her first day of kindergarten (wow, just found out it was garten not garden.) with her little sister looking up to her so adoringly.

Now she is going for her last year (sniff, sniff). Her book bag is bigger and her lunch box turned into a fashion purse but she is still my little girl that I love with all my heart.

Youth Quarter Horse World Show

E left yesterday with the State 4-H horse judging team to compete at the  Youth Quarter Horse World Show in Oklahoma City,  OK.  The link is for the live video streaming of the show.  I know my family will be highly interested in watching a horse show where they don't know anyone showing, NOT.  Well, maybe L would.  E's contest is Wednesday with the awards banquet on Thursday then  back Friday.

Hay Storage

Our county had a grant for hay storage sheds.  We applied for it and were accepted.  This means in order to qualify for the small amount granted towards building the shed we have to use 2 bays for hay storage for the next 5 years. 

 J had bought some have a couple of weeks ago that was just delivered.

 So now he's moving it into the shed.

I don't think we will completely fill 2 bays this year because J is not going to move the hay  he has already stacked the hay lot.

Family Day

We had a family day on the farm today.  However, it was not the kind of family time that V and E enjoy.  We are getting ready to send another group of calves to the feedlot later this month.  So that meant more vaccines, and EID tags. 

 J pushed them through the chute and V worked the head gate.  The J put in the tags.

 I gave the shots.

 E kept the records and helped draw up the vaccines.  We got finished in record time.

 With the extra help J got the feed hauled out easier.  (He has usually been using the 4 wheeler for this now.  The wheelbarrow has a flat tire.)  Despite the obvious struggle, E did make it to the feed trough with her 50 pound sack.

We'll mix these 40 weanlings with some yearlings leftover from last year and hopefully have a full load.  J thinks we need to schedule all future cattle workings as family time from now on.

First Ride

Sorry for the long absence but vacation and recovery from vacation has taken awhile.  I'll try to get back on my regular schedule of 3-4 times a week.

 We had the guttering put on the barn last week.  I calculated that for every 1/10 of an inch of rain 560 gallons will shed off the entire roof.

 Now with the gutter, the ground is drying up so we thought we would try Pep out in the arena.

 There are still several rocks and no sand yet so we mostly just walked around.  E wasn't sure how Pep would act so I rode her instead.  After I lead her around to see everything she was fine.  I don't think we'll have any problem riding her in there.

Of course, J was there to lend his moral support.