FUn @ tHe fArM

Being with friends is fun.  Being with friends on a farm is even more fun!

This past Saturday we traveled 2 ½ hours upstate to a dairy farm. Our friends on the farm don’t get much fellowship so once every year they have a “big potluck picnic” and invite everyone they know.

The view 

Farm House 

Silos 

Calf 

Abigail and her friend! 

Little boys playing...

Girlfriends :) 

Pat and Joy ; cousins 

Talking 

Ready to eat? 

AWE! Kittens   

Playing on the hay time!

Abigail, Joanna & Kaitlyn 

Kaitlyn :) 

Joanna 

Carissa, Joy & Anna 

Joanna, I and Abigail 

Poising

Laughing

Playing with the water ballons!

.Hayride.

Getting ready 

The farm boy (Jason) 

Is this going to be scary? 

Corn! 

Ella & Pat; cousins 

Ready to go :) 

The farm-house

-

Shadows

Running in the hay + playing with kittens + having a water fight + eating tons of food + going on a hay ride + just talking = lotsa fun!   We were sad to go, but we took home a lot of new memories. Thank you Bahners!

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On the way home we stopped and took some photos at an old cabin!  

Abigail & Kate.......I and Joanna

♥, Zoë

Fair Week!

{attention; long post}


Hello Friends! It’s me : ) I’m back to do another post about our local fair.

This year was such a blast, really, truly. It was so much fun, but being part of the action, {making things happen} made it so much better! This past entire week Abigail and I clomped around in our cowgirl boots…there’s this thing about wearing cowgirl boots at a fair. They automatically make you look like you belong there, ditto with big belts, ribbons and cowboy hats. Anyways, always wear cowgirl {cowboy} boots to the fair. End of thought.

Every single day we were at the fair! We were game for anything; from working in the fair eatery to cleaning out stalls; we even helped out with 4-H benefit auction.

Officially for us fair started on Thursday, when we went to Pen Set UP. Doing pen set up was muscle work,* thetypethatdoesn’tmakeyoufeelbadforeatingdessert* work. But it was still fun. It’s the time where you catch up on all the summer news and who’s bringing what goat to the fair news.

Friday was a lot of prep work, when we made sure all our tack was ready and the goats were clean. {Also the day I went with Papa to his work} We cleaned the house as well and got it ready for some weekend company. Then we took 5 of our goats to the fair and signed them in. * long day*

Saturday: Mom rushed around and got all the entries for the fair building taken over before close-out time. Mom, Abigail, Bethany and I came home for some last minute cleaning. While Papa and Lincoln took care of the goats and weighed them in. Then we all came home and ate some breakfast and then I had a siesta. @ 2 o’clock we left for the fairgrounds again for the little kids tractor pull. We met up with our company {Tom, Shannon, Ben and Abraham} then we all sat down and watched Ben and Bethany in their heats. There were almost fifty kids in the 4 – 5 age group signed up! It was so cute to watch them all pedal : v) Bethany did really well and so did Ben! After walking around seeing everything and getting re-acquainted with the grounds, it was finally time to see what we had placed in our “building entries”. It was really exciting! We got a few firsts, seconds and thirds! *yea* Then we came home to rest our weary legs, eat supper and fall into bed.

Sunday after Church we headed over to the fairgrounds for the Ham Barbeque. We also met up with some friends of ours and took them out-to-eat. Mel and Brenda are some wonderful coworkers of Papa whom we have gotten to know very well; this is our usual “thanks for being our friends barbeque” that we take them to every year. After we had all finished {or couldn’t finish} we went to look at all the different entries and show them around. It was so nice seeing them again!

-That night Abigail and I had a friend over; Joanna H. We got to have her for 2 whole days!-

Monday: We went early to watch Zach show his cows. In between shows we washed our goats and got them ready for the show on Tuesday. After all that we (Joanna (a friend), Anna (a friend) Abigail, Lincoln and I) worked in the fair eatery. It’s really a lot of fun, but sometimes when no one comes for a while…you wonder why you signed up! I got to be in CHARGE of the soup and pork barbeque part. Fun, fun! When our work hours were finished we ate. I had fries, hot-dog, whoopee pie and green tea. There is nothing like fair food! *end of day*

Tuesday was goat show day! The kind of day where you can’t get to sleep that night and can’t wake up in the morning! It was so exciting : ) We had been preparing ourselves and our goats for this day since like forever~! See blog post here.

Wednesday was a lazy day and we didn’t do much. We did go over to the fair that evening for the market goat auction; where we sold Blossom, Jake and Champion. That left only Noodles and Mocha at the fair!

Thursday was the Chicken Barbeque. *yum, yummy* That night Abigail, Joanna and I helped out with a 4-H benefit auction. We also cleaned our house for some company, who arrived that night!

Friday was the goat skillathon; Lincoln placed first in his class, I placed second in mine, and Abigail placed 4th in hers. We take the goat skillathon to see how much we know about goats. We took Noodles and Mocha home (because Mocha had gotten a cold). After that we then went and picked peaches with the S______!

Saturday was the last day of fair. *sob* @ 7in-the-morning Papa, Lincoln, Abigail and I went over to the grounds to bid goodbye…. actually we really went for pen take DOWN and all around cleanup. If you thought pen set UP was work, pen take down is the type of work*thatdoesn’tmakeyoufeel guiltyforeating2slicesofcake* work. After that everyone (in 4-H) helped out with general all-around cleanup.

*iky* Abigail and I got to be a part of the garbage crew. Not exactly a glamorous job. It is so disgusting to pick up other peoples garbage….slimy 5day old fries, sticky half- finished drinks, yucky melted candy with teeth marks, leftover ice cream (with ants on top). Let’s just say that I’d rather not think about it right now…..

On that happy note, fair ended for me. I enjoy fair with all its excitement, competition, nervousness and yes, work. With that being said, please enjoy this slideshow, which I have put together for your enjoyment. Tata!

Fair - slideshow maker

Tue. Goat Show.

Last week was our Fair week! Tuesday was the goat show, this year we showed five (5) goats. The show started at 8:00 AM. So, we had to get up a little earlier :)


Mom woke us “sleepy” heads up, around 6’ish and got us moving. We rolled out of our cozy beds and slipped into our clothing. Thankfully we had already gotten our *show outfits* ready the night before!
Then Mom French braided my hair while Joanna (a friend who spent the night) braided Abigail’s.

After a few finishing touches, we were off to the fair!
We made sure our goats were clean and "sparkly" and then off to see what the line-up was.

First the Market classes started and then (in a separate ring) the Fiber and Dairy Classes.

The Market Classes went as follows:
Lightweight
Medium-weight
Light Heavyweight
Heavyweight

There were 49 Market goats there this year.

There were also:  Boer breeding does, Fiber goats, Pygmy, Nigerian Dwarf, Crossbreed, Nubian and Alpine classes. (Of the above there was around 50 or so)
Then to round it all up there were Showmanship classes for different age groups!

Abigail showed first in Lightweight. Champion placed second in his class!

Abigail showing! 

 

Noodles and I 

Blossom and I 

She placed first in her class! 

Abigail and Mocha (She got first)

--- 

Lincoln and Jake (He got second)

Waiting for Showmanship to start

When all the classes were finished, it was time to start showmanship. I was so nervous!

Lincoln and Jake got a first place ribbon in their class! 

Abigail got Intermediate Showman Reserve Champion. W/Mocha

Blossom and I got a 4th

It was all very exciting! We even had our own little cheering group : )

My thanks to everyone who came to wish us well! It was so nice having you there and it really made us feel special :) Thank you Papa and Mom for all your hard work, I know it wasn't easy!

Well, that was show day :) I still have at least one more post to do about the fair.... which should come later this week!

    TTNP,
          

  Zoë

My Day~

My day started this morning when I woke up at 5:30 AM. Papa and I were going to deliver Onyx and Skylar (2 of our bucks born this year) to their future home.


SIGHT AND SOUND!!!


*note*---I had posted both sets of twins on craigslist last Friday and that night they had all already been sold! Our two doeling’s (Carmel and Eloise) went to a nice Mennonite family and we sold our two buckling’s to Sight and Sound.---


Anyways…Back on track! Papa and I drove to Sight and Sound, to drop off the two buckling’s. -I was so excited!- Papa drove back behind the buildings and under a tunnel (where some props were being made) to the barns. Then we meet up with Sherwood; (who is the animal director for Sight and Sound) and handed over the goats.

Then he took us on a personalized tour to see all the animals.

"Come on!" -Papa and Sherwood-

Our greeting choir!

Jacob Sheep (see the 4 horns!)

Sheep 

Some of the dogs! 

Chester 

Am I a Zebra?   -No, I'm not! Fooled you- (A girl who works here is really good with hair dying so she painted me with black stripes...I'm really a all white pony) (cool, huh?)

Mr. Donkey 

"Well, Hello!" 

A camel named Jericho...made the funniest sounds!

2 pot bellied pigs

Miss Llama 

A white Zebu Cow 

and a black Zebu cow (they have humps on their backs!) 

I remember seeing this big guy in a show before! 

"Neigh" 

There were so many other animals there, sorry there is not more pictures!

-(the stunk's, cats, rodents and other small animals are kept up in  the theater)-

Papa and Sherwood! 

Sight and Sound! 

The main doors~ 

After that, Papa and I left for his work (at a hospital)… I had a fun time “shadowing” him, and seeing him work! *I cannot post about this, because it would violate rules* Then we came home ate supper, and then we took 5 of our goats over to the Fair (which starts tomorrow)!

I have so many things to post about, so come back soon :)

Thanks for stopping by!

       Zoë