2012 Fair - Our youngest childs 1st Junior fair

Getting the animals settled before show day. (Spring Yearling)

Getting a pep talk from the experienced showperson (big sister)

Big brother here for support!

She showed this cow (Dry Cow) as a calf in Kiddie Showmanship...Here they are together again years later.

Showing something more her size.  She loves this March calf and started walking her when she was a week old.  Too bad the calf came down with a kidney infection.  The only animal she showed that did not bring her a blue ribbon.

More family support...the neice!  Possibly a future showman!!!

 

Mom and Dad...the bigest supporters of all!

Showing off the days ribbons!

Here is what it is all about...Daddy, Daughter time.  Nothing is more precious.

Changes...

It has taken me a while to sit and write this update. Due to Todd's continued health challenges, working off the farm and other economical trials, we decided to sell most of our herd June 5, 2012. This decision has affected us from the oldest to the youngest. While we knew at some point we would need to pass the milking on to the next generation, we never thought it would come before the next generation was able to take over.

A special thank you to all those who helped us during this time (especially Miller & Co. Auctions). We are truly blessed to have had so much input, help and understanding while all this chaos was going on.

We continue our love for dairy farming and have a few heifers, bulls and cows in our ownership. During this time we are focusing on them and our new division...Huacaya Alpacas! Alpacas are entirely different from cows, but have one main thing in common...you need to understand genetics. As with our Holsteins, we plan to focus our alpaca breeding program on QUALITY. With time, we hope to be able to show our alpacas with the same success we have had with our cows.

 

Below are the pictures of our newest farm members.  They currently have just the two lanes and some shelter.  Their new housing will consist of six lanes and a new lean-to style shelter.  We are learning more about these graceful, curious animals daily and I look forward to posting more about them soon.

Our first Alpacas...they are all boys.  Left to right:Machu Pichu, Journey, Kennedy

The boys next to the girls.  This is a temporary home for them.

Memory Monday

My last Monday's post was of middle daughter and her circus leggo language.  We are now going to fast forward about a year and a half.  At the ripe old age of 3 and 9 this is the scene I came upon...

The kids rooms were downstairs and I didn't hear enough noise ( both of them were down there).  I get to the bottom of the stairs and I see my daughter's profile in the doorway.  One hand on her hip, the other shaking a finger at her brother.  Her words...don't piss me off!

This time brother is clearly not in trouble.  I sent him from the room and don't belive that I even questioned what what going on.  This time she was in for a talking to.  It turns out that her new babysitter (my next door neighbor with a son; daughter's age) used that particular saying.

Not sure what is worse...sending them to school or daycare!

Have a great Monday!  :)

Memory Monday

With the birth of a new (and 1st) grandchild and reading a fellow bloggers post I have decided to create...Memory Monday.  I will do my best to post a memory from the kids, farm or life in general each Monday.

I decided to start with the crazy things kids learn in school.

My daughter was about 2 years old and my son was in second grade (7  years old).  He was sitting at the kitchen table doing homework while I was putting away laundry.  Daughter was in the entry to my bedroom just off the kitchen.  She had a little lego set that had cirus animals and a train that connected and fit the animals in.  She sat on the floor saying F --K, F --K, F --K.  I was not paying attention (never thinking about what she was saying, just glad she was playing happily).  My son shouts out...MOM do you hear what she is saying!?!  She is saying...and he spells it out.  I dropped the laundry and hurried to the kitchen table.

Here it comes...you guessed it...he got in trouble for knowing how to spell that word.  I knew quite clearly that my husband and I did not use that type of language, nor did any of my daycare providers.  Poor kid had to explain that he doesn't talk like that, but learned the word from the bathroom walls.

I sat on the floor next to my daughter, who was still making these particular epitaphs; explained to her that trains say...choo, choo, choo.  She said ok mommy...from then on she used choo, choo, choo with her train sets.

Meanwhile...son got A's in spelling.  :)

Trainer or no trainer?

In the last year I have gone from 6 horses to 2.  The last two horses I have are 3 years old; with all my other responsibilities, they are not broke out.  In the past I have started a couple of young ones, both of them I worked with from the time they were born.  This time, however, even though these two were born here, I have not really worked with them.  They are terrible for the farrier and don't have the best manners.  Mind you, they aren't horrible to be around when you lead them with a halter or if you are working in the pasture.  The dilema is this:

1.  Can't seem to find enough time to get out daily and work them.
2.  When I do work them, I am not sure that I am doing it right.  I just don't want to train them with a cue and have them be re-trained because I did it wrong (different).
3.  I need them to be "kid" safe as my daughter wants to show next year.  I don't expect that she will be showing either of these two, however, I am trying to keep in  mind that it may be possible that one of them (or both of them) will end up in the show ring.
4.  Brings me back to #1; I know I HAVE to find time to work them daily.
5.  Can't afford a trainer right now...maybe late winter?  Please note the word maybe...  :)
6.  If I do find the money for a trainer...how to choose one?  I have had a couple of trainers and most of them were not the best experience for my horses (or me).  There is a good trainer locally that I used once before, but she is very busy and now she works mostly with Andalusions/Crosses.

I have access to RFD TV where I have been watching a lot of different trainers...I find that I really like Ken McNabb and Clinton Anderson.  I try to pick up different tips and tricks from them, but not easy to do from a short show.  Clinton seems to have a great way of teaching, but I can't  seem to find the money now...his DVD's are very expensive.

What techniques or trainers do you use and reccommend?  I know that your trainers are probably nowhere near me, but how do you choose a good trainer?  It seems every time I ask other people around here, no one has anything nice to say about anyone else.  If you do your own training, did you have a mentor (how did you find one) or are you self taught and where is the best source for information?

1st Grandchild

I really don't know if the whole thing has settled in on me yet.  There have been so many changes in our lives...and now, a new granddaughter.

She is beautiful and precious, we are so greatful that mother and child are doing well after a VERY scary delivery (an emergency c-section).



New Grandma with New Granddaughter

With our lives in constant turmoil on the farm, with off-farm jobs AND starting a new business; I am not sure how I am going to find time to drive an hour (one-way) to see her, but you can bet your bottom dollar that I am going to find a way!

I want to be a wonderful Grandma, but I don't want to get in the way of the new parents...any advice out there?

Ugliest Chicken Coop (EVER)!

If you have been reading my blog, you know I am a city girl gone country (AND LOVING IT).  Herein lies my problem.  I don't have the construction knowledge or know-how to many things done.  Mind you, this does not stop me.

My daughter wanted to try a new adventure and my local Co-Op was doing a 1st annual (which means I had a chance at not being the only "don't know what I am doing" person) jackpot broiler.  In case you don't know this means a meat chick raise (in this case) 90 days to show date.  All chicks had to be purchased from the Co-Op.  The Co-Op provided them all at the ripe old age of 10 days old.

So we go to get these babies...

Unfortuneately for my poor baby chicks, I am not much of a builder and know nothing about what a chicken coop is supposed to look like.  Fortuneately, the chicks didn't care what their home looked like, just that it was warm, they were fed and watered AND they had protection from the cats and dogs.

Feel free to laugh at my idea of a home for these babies...

Let me see if I can do justice to what I have done here...in the background is a dog "igloo".  There is large tarp that covers a section of their "pasture and a sort of t-post holding the tarp up.  Again, it is ok to laugh...I am laughing as I write this.  The chicken wire that you see, well, it is in a sort of triangle shape.  No kidding this is the CRAZIEST, UGLIEST thing I have ever seen used as housing for a chicken.

My daughter was very happy, she took 4th place in her age division (she would have done better if I had know that it is ok to get chickens wet and/or give them a bath).

This year, she decided that she would like laying chickens.  We went out and bought a used coop.  I am in the process of fixing it up and refuse to get any chicks until I am done.  Our layers will be around a lot longer and will have a much nicer house.

In case you are interested, Murray McMurray Hatchery has been the best source of information for me.  It has helped with bird selection, feed and shelter.  I even ordered a book about chickens so I could learn how to keep them the healthiest and make certain they had enough in their diet so the egg laying would not deplete their systems.

Hope you enjoyed my ugly coop!  Have a great day and God Bless.



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E-Mail:  TnTConnect@hughes.net