Puyallup Fair 2012

Another great time exhibiting at the Puyallup Fair ! This year I had more help, my granddaughter K.N. is old enough to stay with her brother C.T. & I the 4 nights and 5 days of exhibition in the Animals Of The World barn. We camp there so we're able to get some rest before each busy day.Camping in our trailer makes it even more fun too.

 The front of my exhibit, with C.T. & K.N. at the table, ready to answer questions should I have to take a break.

These pictures were taken before the fair was officially open for the day. No crowds to obscure the picture taking.The sheep pens were clean after our morning clean-up.After picture taking we enjoyed our traditional fair breakfast, doughnuts & beverages ( who eats healthy at the fair ?). Coffee for me!

Side view of exhibit...

..back view. My exhibit is in a center aisle. I needed to create walls to post information about Jacob Sheep, and also create visual borders. I have worked on the design over the years to minimize visual clutter, but as you probably realize, this often requires a cost in supplies and a lot of labor.My husband and I are refining this, because transporting the walls, the sheep, and everything else is also a big thing to take into consideration.

 Goth, my ram. Posing for the crowds.He was very accommodating to photographers this year, and even mellow.I am not exaggerating when I say there must have been thousands of pictures taken of him over the past few years.One would think he is aware of this the way he posed this year.

 

The ewes ( girl sheep ) in their pen.Thora, Tovah, Mally, & Buttercup were here this year, showing the public the varied horn count on each sheep in this breed.

A lot of time and energy, a lot of fun invested in another year at the Puyallup Fair. I am so thankful to have been invited to participate as an exhibitor here, and even more blessed to have 2 of my grandchildren help me out. Our granddaughter K.N. even chose to spend her birthday here with me and her brother.Maybe next year she'll be here too.Lord willing, I will , and so will Goth.

 

Mud Buddies

The digging began the day before the house-warming party our daughter & her husband threw to celebrate their new home & community. Friends, family, and anyone who is important to them, were all invited. A pig was roasted in traditional Hawaiian fashion, and that required a very large pit.While the men were digging the hole to roast the pig, Little 'J' was digging his own hole, but roasting a pig was NOT what he had in mind.

 MUD PUDDLE !

Two other children who had come to celebrate camped overnight in the field and bright and early the next morning 3 little mud buddies were busy in the mud.This little girl was very industrious as she walked back and forth from the swimming pool , filling her water can and emptying it into the growing mud puddle.

More water, more mud.

Even more water. This is taking a long time.Let's get...

... the hose ! ( By the way, did you notice all 3 of these children are wearing their pajamas? What's better than a squishy big mud puddle on a sunny morning to start the day?)

The mud buddies added toy cars, helicopters,farm animals, fencing,

and Little 'J' even threw in a house. So much fun in the mud.

The mud pond was beginning to turn into a mud river when some fussy grown-up found out about the hose and turned it off.

But there was still plenty of mud, and mud buddies to play with. Fun in the mud!

Spot On New Chicks & Blogging

This is one of a dozen new chicks that hatched out yesterday, under the careful brooding of 3 Silkie hens. The chicks are purebred bantam Cochins ( white) or bantam Silkie / Cochin crosses. They all have a frizzled father, which means they can have very curly feathers causing them to look like your fluffy house slippers.

My husband & I have been working overtime to replace our storm-damaged fences, clean up our acreage, harvest our gardens, harvest the honey from our bees, get ready for the Puyallup Fair where we exhibit my Jacob Sheep for 5 days, prepare for the winter by stacking firewood & hay to last, and joyfully get ready for my baby sister to stay with us for awhile while she considers what job she'll choose and where she'll live. Yay! My youngest sister will finally be home where she belongs!

Meanwhile, I am still tending my flocks of chickens, turkeys, ducks, sheep, and all the while preparing for many imminent events of great joy. I have not been able to spend much time on-line because of the things I need to do daily, and also because our computer is not behaving . Naughty computer. I have been reading your blogs, of course, downloading blogs  is taking a lot of time, so I get household chores and cooking done while waiting to read my favorite blogs. Then, because my computer is in need of replacing, I have to take time ( LOTS ! ) to comment. After this month my husband and I are hoping to replace our dinosaur of a computer , but please know, I appreciate your comments and I am reading your blogs, and hopefully soon, will re-join active blogdom, comments and all. Because, really, how can you NOT read a great blog and comment?

If you're interested in chickens, check out my other blog, JUST CHICKENS *.

Ducks ~Just Ducks.

Ducks , viewed from our front porch as they eat the sunflower seeds dropped from our bird feeders by the feeding wild birds. This is my flock of ducks. They are released from their pen every morning to wander as they will around our property, swim in our pond, sleep in the sunshine on our big front lawn. 

 I love my ducks.At the close of the day my ducks pen themselves up. I need only remember to close the door of their pen and latch it, thus protecting them from the many predators we have around our home that love duck for dinner.In the morning I will again release them to wander and swim, as I sip my first cup of coffee of the day and watch them.

Best Birthday Present Ever!

My birthday always falls on Labor Day weekend. Usually we go camping, but this year I requested a very big present. I asked my family to give up their time and energy to help my husband & I rebuild and repair our sheep fences. No presents but their presence. Some dear friends volunteered to come help too. (above from left to right, friends Paul Fryer, Mike Ritter, and our youngest son Daniel )

 My husband & youngest son. Guess some men are always boys at heart.

Paul & his brother-in-law, Mike. They added a LOT of muscle and worked hard all day. Thank-you Mike & Paul !Thank-you to Carol & Katie, their wives, for allowing them to spend a weekend day here.I truly appreciate this gift of your time.

 New fence posts for the new and improved fence-line,makes my heart sing.

Old fence on the left, repaired and restructured fence, the right.

Goth, prior to being confined while the men worked.He seems to glory in his pen of destruction. Maybe he loves to see what his power & horns can do, but now, gone are the ugly tarps he ripped, the bent and mangled fences he destroyed.

Our son's dogs Ruger 

and Mongo supervised the work,

while Goth, confined to a small area for the safety of all, played with his rubber balls,and napped.

I cannot express the gratitude I feel for the actions of my family & friends that show their love in a very tangible way. Their presence was present enough, and more.My husband & I could not have done this without them.In a soon coming  post I'll show more of the work in progress. But again I say to all who were here, " thank-you!"."Present:anything presented, a gift." Webster Dictionary