Jenna and Little Bit

Here's Jenna (mini-Maggie after our friend Maggie Brunner, who loves to show cattle ALMOST as much as Jenna!) with Little Bit she showed the little calf because she wasn't as broke to lead as Barbie is that way Seth could take Barbie and have a little better luck handling her. You will notice hands very full of the rope, the SHOW STICK, and the TROPHY!! And even though it was in the 90's the cowgirls wore those hot jeans all day long!

Audrain updates, mid-fair

Well we are sort of 'mid-fair' at this point. For the events we participate in, WE are about two thirds the way through.
Friday was full of the hustle and bustle of finishing up projects, and rounding up everything needed to check our exhibits into the building Friday evening. We had 4 hams and an assortment of posters. Our club, F and L Hustlers, was in charge of the check in process, so Cody Sam and I had to be there before 3 (which we didn't quite accomplish, but close) Seth and Jenna stayed with our neighbor, Janie Schmidt and then Matt, her grandson/our adopted 5th child watched them later in the evening.
The check in was hectic and long and stressful. Will make me remember next year to be very courteous and appreciative to whichever club is in charge in coming years!
Our personal results:
Cody's hams both received reds with scores 82 and 83 points (had to have an 85 to get blue)
Sam's hams both received blues with scores of 86 and 87 points (The Grand champion ham had a score of 92, so I didn't think that was too bad overall) The Grand Champion Ham was exhibited by a girl in our club, Erica Cornett, congrats to her!
Other building exhibits were, for Cody, posters about things he's learned in his projects. He made a poster that labelled all the parts of a hole on a golf course, he did one for beef that gave a diagram of a side beef and showed where the different retail cuts came from and gave best preparation methods for each cut. He made beef stew, took a sample and made a poster with the recipe and pictures we took of him preparing it.
Sam did a poster showing different equipment used in welding, made a beef poster outlining the origins of the Angus Breed of cattle, and also did a beef recipe. Both boys got all blues with their posters. Two of Cody's are going on to the State Fair. It's just so different than when I was in 4H, I lived in town so of course wasn't in beef and was a girl and didn't take welding, etc....... all the things that my boys take. I did things like clothing and foods, which had obvious building exhibits with your finished projects. You have to be a little more creative with some of their projects. Since you can't exactly bring your steer to building, although he's a wonderful example of your years' work, you just have to come up with other ways to show the things that you're learning. We've done beef foods, they made cookbooks last year for both beef and for ham, since they are in the cured hams project as well, we've made up little educational booklets. Kind of makes me think that my skirts, aprons, etc and batches of cookies and all that were pretty easy..............
Okay so Friday evening spent at the fair, with on short side trip by David and I back to Centralia to pay last respects to our friends the Benoit and Rohl families and express our sadness at the loss of our dear Angie. Her loss will be felt by so many. Defintely an example from the song about the good dying young. We will miss your smiling face and bubbly personality for a very long time.
Left the fairgrounds about 10 pm Friday night and was back on them before 8 am Saturday morning. We didn't leave till almost 11pm last night. Yesterday was the Audrain Fair Cattle Show. We took 2 steers, a heifer and 2 bottle calves. Seth and Jenna showed their babies yesterday morning and got 'trophies' the boys had mixed results, Sam ended up with the Reserve Champion Angus Heifer, not a bad place to be. But the judge didn't like either of our steers. Buddy who was showed by Sam, was too tall and lanky in his opinion and because of his frame size wasn't finished, which we kind of knew. Then with the weirdest comments I have ever heard, Bubba, who weighed in at 1475, 30 pounds heavier than anything else; didn't do well either, but I thought he would say that he was overfinished, he didn't. He mentioned how he could use more muscling.................okay. Whatever. This guy was very influenced by appearances and was easily impressed by fancy grooming. Didn't put his hands on many of the calves and if he had I think we would have faired better, but one mans opinion. And life goes, the boys will still get a nice price for the calves and gives us an opportunity to help them save some money. (We buy the calves and feed the calves and the boys get the check, but we do make them put it in savings!)
Back to fair............. we'll make a little 'field trip' to the Monroe County fair which is also going on Tuesday for their cattle show. Then Wednesday is our Fairs' closing events. The Ham and Livestock Sale. Both boys have Hams to sell. Then Audrain Fair will come to a close for another year. I have been kind of sad, I feel like summer is over, we have about two weeks between county fairs and State Fair, we exhibit there, come home and go back to school 5 days later. Just seems like summer has went fast. I know Gladys and I were talking about that this evening. Summer has seemed to be screwed up with farming being so messed up. The last several years the men have had crops planted pretty early and there's been more free time, 'to have summer' this year we've just kept waiting and it never really got here, so to speak......
Anyway, will 'enjoy' my day off from Fairs tomorrow, playing catch up on laundry and housework. Probably bake some cookies and get ready for the 'next round' on Tuesday.
Up to my eyeballs from Tulip~
KH

Let's see if my luck holds out

While I am having some luck with the pictures this morning, I wanted to try and add this one that for some reason never quite got there either. Here's the picture of Seth that should go with the post about the kids loving to jump on the inner tube.

Second try with the picture

Well here's my second or third attempt to add Seth's picture. Hopefully this one will go through. Crossing my fingers.

Kids and Black Cows, Part 4

Not to be outdone by his older siblings, Seth has joined the rest in their obsession to lead the calves on every part of the yard and driveways of this farm. This evening he and Jenna, were leading the 'little calves' Barbie (technically Jenna's but easier to lead, so Seth had her) and Little Bit (she's a little more spirited, so Jenna was leading her) They think that we should take the whole works to the fair on Saturday, we will have to see what Daddy thinks, when they tell him. Seth really doesn't do too bad, when you factor in that he is 3 and half (2/3's if you want to get technical) of course good ol' Barbie is the calmest calf I have ever been around. When we are done leading her, you walk her to the barn, take off her halter and she walks to the gate of her pen and waits for you to let her in. If all the show cales were that easy, even wimpy Mom could even take charge of this project! ;)
Thought that I would show ALL my cattle showmen...........
From Tulip~
KH

18 Years Ago Today....

Does this 'young buck and his bride' even look remotely familiar to anyone? Yeah well good bad or otherwise, that was us 18 years ago. Today is our anniversary, I have already gotten my present, although I haven't told David yet. After living with him for this long I have learned that a little finesse in mentioning upcoming events is a must and that timing is everything. I guess I am feeling sort of nostalgic today, so I have been thinking of a 'History of Us' blog today. So here goes:
When I was a Senior in HS I started dating David. We did all the traditional things that childhood sweethearts do. We went to the Prom and all of that. I went away to college and spent a LONG semester away from my sweetie, complete with BIG phone bills and tearful goodbyes. Well with much love and feeling the need to be closer to home I transferred to the local community college, to be closer to my sweetie and to plan our wedding. We got engaged at Christmas in 1989 and married in July of 1990. I was 19, the same age as my parents when they got married, and David was such a 'mature' (sarcasm again, sorry) 24.
We sat up housekeeping in a mobile home that was/is on his/our family farm. I finished college, worked a few years and after four years of marriage, we welcomed the first of four kiddos. Cody Garrett was born on LABOR DAY (oh so appropriate!!) Sept 5th, 1994, Samuel Earl came along, four years, one month and one day later. If you're doing the math, Oct 6th, 1998. Our trailer that was such cozy quarters for newly weds, was suddenly busting at the seams. At the same time, David's parents were in the process of becoming 'empty nesters' as his sister Dawn had moved into her first home and his little sister, Beth, was in college. So we had the 'grand shuffle.' We traded houses with David's parents when Sam was about one month old. So we now live in the house that David did the majority of his 'growing up' in. Well, in perfect timing or whatever you want to call it, I have several names, but looking back perfect timing, is the right one, Jenna Claire, arrived right on schedule, four years and not quite a month after Sam. Those keeping track will note, Nov. 1st, 2002. Then we decided to mix things up a bit and Seth William, made his appearance, Nov 2nd, 2004, two years and one day after his older sister. Yes he broke the cycle and rounded out our set of kiddos.
Our hands are full and hearts are blessed with this houseful of 'family' and we have a deep friendship and appreciation for each other that I think we could have never foreseen 18 years ago. We are never him or me, unless it's I love him, or he loves me, we are just us and we.
I started this blog thinking that I wanted to give this great history of us, our lives, our town, 'Tulip' etc etc but I think I will stop after covering the most important part. Back to my gift, that I mentioned at the beginning of the blog. I am beside myself excited, for longtime readers (two months or whatever its been that I been blogging) I mentioned that we were going to get the opportunity to be a featured diarist in Farm and Ranch Living. They called this morning and we are on for August, so THAT is what I am considering to be the biggest gift today, the chance to share what we love about each other and our lives with the readers of that great magazine. When I get an opportunity, I will add their website to my list of favorites. We are supposed to be in the Dec 2008/Jan 2009 issue. This is the same company that publishes, Taste of Home, Country Woman, Birds and Blooms and many other magazines. So I guess watch for more details.
Happy Anniversary to us,
From Tulip~
KH

Kids and Black Cows, Part 3

Cody is showing a 'little' (lots of sarcasm intended, read on) steer this year. He had the champion 4H Crossbred steer (Angus/Gelbvieh cross, we got from Bill Harris) at Sturgeon, (where this picture was taken) ended up 3rd overall. And got 3rd in his Super heavy weight class at Centralia. We got in line to weigh his steer and it was funny how several people who had seen him Friday night came over to see what he weighed. Poor little thing only weighs 1495 POUNDS!!!! We have had several little things that have been problems in breaking calves this summer. Although the kids took a calf a piece to the fairs, they have THREE calves a piece that we've been working with. One of the mishaps has been that Cody got his big toe stepped on by his heifer and ended with the toenail ripped off, a laceration and crushed bone in the toe. I couldn't think of any 'good way' to blog about it, so I thought that I would throw it in as an aside in this one. We kidded him last night and said be glad it wasn't BUBBA (this steers' name) or you might not have had a toe left. He's just a monster, almost as big as one of our bulls. If we can get it done, Cody has another Steer that was too 'green' to go to the shows this weekend, but we're hoping to take him to Audrain or Monroe County fairs, after the guys have worked more with him. Sam has had bad luck as well. He's got a beautiful red steer (crossbred Red Angus and Gelbvieh) but the darn thing figured out he can get away and even David and Jason have trouble keeping ahold of him, so he's probably out. Sam also has an older heifer, Daisy, that he showed as a Sr. Heifer Calf last summer, but she's big and pregnant and grumpy and goes where she darn well pleases, doesn't get away, because she doesn't really run, she just walks wherever she wants, so she's probably out as well. It's been one of 'those' years, like throwing gas on a fire, the more we work with them, it seems, the worse they get. But the kids love the shows, so we keep plugging along. Maybe next year will be better, crops and cows both!

Kids and Black Cows, Part 2

Sam had mixed results for the first two shows. At Sturgeon, Friday night, he competed against an older heifer and the judge never asked the calves birthdates and he lost out. Then Saturday night he had the Champion Angus Heifer at Centralia, so go figure who knows. Anyway I always try to find good pictures, but it seems that pictures of kids showing cattle you either end up with the kids backside, or the cows, sorry! Sometimes you end up with both, oh well. The above picture was when Sam was in the show ring competing for Supreme Female, which was won by a Centralia girl, Tara Fountain, you can see the 'best side' of her Charolais heifer there in the edge of the picture. He was thrilled also though with his 'trophy' which was a mesh tote bag that holds all the sprays and 'goops' that they put on the calves, in fact the kids already have it full of their 'show stuff' ready for the next show, this coming Saturday at Audrain County, in Mexico, MO.

Kids and Black Cows, part 1

This is a picture that I took Saturday night at Centralia Fairs' Cattle Show. Jenna, with the black calf, braids and hot pink shirt, is talking to the judge, Charlie Gerloff (Angus breeder from Bland, MO who we've gotten to know through the years from showing at the State Fair) The Open Bottle Calf class is always a popular event and as Charlie said it was the best reason to be there, to see these little kids who aren't even old enough to be in 4H out there, I think there were about 8 exhibitors in the class, ranging from 6 yrs to almost 4 yrs old. Jenna had a pretty good weekend at Sturgeon she won the Open Bottle calf class and was thrilled to come home with her grooming brush/trophy. Saturday night thanks to Papa Charlie's donation, all the exhibitors won a new rope halter, which Jenna picked out purple, so Barbie now has two halters to choose from, pink or purple. If Jenna stays this enthusiastic about showing cattle, she'll give her brothers a run for their money.

Finally made the 'Drink'

Well, after not getting a chance to try the new drink recipe that I was talking about, Sunday evening I finally had the chance. I will say that the first review was only kind of so-so.
I get a magazine called everyday food. When I subscribed, I didn't realize that it was a 'Martha Stewart' magazine. So her version of everyday food and mine are a little different, but I have tried probably a recipe an issue, and we have liked some, others sort of whatever. (The Hawaiian Pound Cake was one)
Watermelon Lemonade
2 Lemons, quartered
1 C fresh mint leaves
1/2 C packed light brown sugar
1/2 medium seedless watermelon (about 9 pounds)
1 C vodka (optional) *yeah whatever!*
Squeeze lemons into large pitcher (I used gallon, but I think it would fit into a 1/2 gallon) add the the squeezed lemons, mint and sugar. Mash with a wooden spoon until mint it bruised and sugar is dissolved. In blender puree watermelon in batches until smooth, pour through a fine sieve into pitcher. (You should have about 8 cups of juice) Stir to combine. Refridgerate, covered up to three days. And vodka if using, serve over ice.

Okay my version, didn't use the mint leaves as I totally forgot to get any. They might improve it. I wasn't a huge fan of this drink and heck yes we used the vodka! ;) I wish I had chilled the watermelon thoroughly first. I also would do crushed ice or make this a semi frozen type of drink. We put it over ice and it just needed to be colder, if that makes sense. It was okay, I think it might need to be a bit sweeter, I am thinking that white sugar could be an improvement as well. You know what this means, I will have to make it again, soon.
Anyway, I look forward to hearing reviews, comments, suggestions.
Busy week here, wrapping up last minute things before the fairs get going. Will have some pics to post I suppose of kids and black cows (one red one. if we gt him to 'that' stage!) coming soon.
From Tulip~
KH