County Fair

My kids have been very busy getting ready for the state fair. They have been studying for showmanship in poultry, goat and alpacas. They have been working with their animals and getting them ready to show. They have their non animal project into the state fair ready to be displayed. The excitement and tension is rising. I am so proud of them.

I realized that I haven't even shared any of the projects that they took to the county fair. So I thought I would share a few things that the kids took to the county fair. So here are a few pictures: Bee hive cake, canning, cement leaves, baby grand piano cake, pigs, goats, and alpacas.

So I have been avoiding writing on my blog. We have been so busy with all that the kid's do that I have felt overwhelmed and just did not feel I could do a good job on blogging as well. I have decided that even if I just blog a little it is better then not at all.

My kids are really big into 4H they have been involved with a lot of activities. They are done with our county fair and getting geared up for our state fair. They both have won state fair trips and are so excited.

This was the first year that our county had Alpacas/Lamas at the fair. My daughter worked very hard to get them into the fair. I was very proud of the 14 kids that showed them, we have an idea now of what we have to do next year. We had a couple of wonderful judges that were very patient with us. Our county has 5 children going to the state fair with an Alpaca or Lama. I think that is pretty good for the first year.

Here are some county fair pictures!

Alpaca Weekend!! Thanks Roger!!

 

Well what a weekend. We went to the Minnesota Alpaca Expo in Owatanna, Minnesota. Rose was asked to show at the alpaca show. She was so excited and very nervous. But she sure did a great job. I was so proud of her. She went in  the ring with a lot of confidence, even though she didn't no exactly how to show them. It is lucky that she has shown animals for 4H, because she knew how to handle and present the alpaca. She also entered the costume contest. She was the flower and the alpaca was the bee. It went well. I was surprised how well the alpaca tolerated it. 

Hmmmmmmmmm What are they thinking???

Spring? Winter? Spring? Winter?

So I am confused the calendar says spring but it looks alot like winter to me. We got another several inches of snow last night and this morning. No school today, first time in quite a few years that our school has been closed. Danny says it was January of '07. It sure is heavy snow, this won't be good for the flooding situation, although they say it will melt slowly over the next week since the weather won't warm up to fast. The kids are really enjoying it HAHA. They blew out the driveway and shoveled the chickens out, sidewalk and path to the shed. Dan is looking forward to shoveling off the roof, yah right!
Hope you're enjoying this weather now because I am hoping it won't last long! Have a great day! God Bless you all, Debbie

Snow, Snow Go Away!!

How much snow do you have left?

So I'm sitting here dreaming about spring. I am really tired of snow. Last week was a nice taste of what I know is to come. But we still have quite a bit of snow. These pictures were taken yesterday. I know that we lost a little last night with the rain but we are suppose to get more 3 to 6 inches tonight and tomorrow. It won't last very long thank goodness. It will be nice to see some green grass, well even brown grass, LOL.

Poultry Bowl update

Well I thought I would update you on the poultry bowl teams. They competed at regional competition on the 5th of March. The kids did awesome. The senior team lost their last match by two points, so they won't be going to state. The junior team will be competing at state in April. Congratulations to all the members. Great job I am so proud of you! Go 4Hers!!!!!

worm castings

So I have a terrible time with my plants. An alpaca farmer that my children have been helping gave me a 5# bag of this dirt and told me that it was from his worm farm. He uses the alpaca poo and some other items in his worm farm. It makes a very rich soil. He told me to use half potting soil and half of the dirt he gave me. I actually used about 1/3 of his dirt and 2/3 potting soil. I decided to see if I could save this spider plant that my cat was destroying. With in a couple of days I could see the plant was perking up. Now a few weeks later it is striving!! Now which plant to save next. I will post more when I use it it on other plants. I'll have to post pictures because I think I will become a great houseplant grower after all! This is really good soil! I would recommend it to anyone!