West Lampeter Fair...Day 4...

It's Friday night, and there's a mixed bag of emotions...

We're tired, but had a great time at the fair this week.  Tonight was a tough one, though.

You see...all of those animals that were shown at the fair, with the exception of the dairy cows and heifers, were sold tonight. Each youth sent out letters to potential buyers for their animals over the past few weeks in hopes that they would purchase their animal at tonight's youth livestock auction.  Everyone hoped that their animal would turn a profit...

Family, friends and buyers filled the stands.  First, the steers were sold...then the pigs, lambs, dairy beef and goats.  There were lots of tears.  The youth spent months caring for and training their animals, and tonight they had to say goodbye...

We're going to miss these girls!  This is how April and Dot spent many of their days...curled up together on their platform that Grandpa made.  Maybe they thought it was a throne...

Thanks for following fair week with me.  I took pictures and wrote from my perspective, but there's oh, so much more than this!  If you've never been there, mark your calendars for next September!...it will be here again before we know it!

West Lampeter Fair...Day 3...

Today at the fair was different from any other day we've ever spent there.

This was the first time that anyone in our family was involved in showing an animal...and it put a
whole new perspective on fair life.  Now, when we walk through those dairy, pig, sheep and goat barns, we know how much work was put into raising and training those animals...all for one show in late September!

The day began by heading to the fair right after breakfast.  Jenna took the day off school, because we didn't know how long it would take to prepare for the show.  She fed and watered April and Dot, and then gave them a bath.  It was a little chilly, so she towelled them off thoroughly before we took them back to their pens filled with fresh shavings...

There were several 4-H'ers and FFA-ers from Church that were showing animals this week, and quite a few supporters showed up to watch and encourage them.  We are so thankful for the support that all these kids are given...they know they are loved!

Grandma and Grandpa were there looking on...

 

The goats were divided into classes according to weights.  Dot weighed in at 80 pounds, and was shown in the second class of the afternoon...

After the individual goats were judged, the showmanship judging was held.  The kids are judged on their poise and confidence, always keeping their eyes on the judge, keeping the animal between themselves and the judge at all times, the ability to answer individual questions asked by the judge, and more.  Jenna could chose which of her goats to show for this, and she chose April.  Here, the judge is asking her about the parts of the goat and the feed she used...

Here the judge is explaining the reasons that she placed them where she did, and giving constructive criticisms.  She was a very encouraging judge...told them not only where they could improve, but what they did right...

And the color of the day was...RED...both April and Dot placed second in their weight classes, and Jenna placed second in showmanship for first year participants in her age group!  We are proud of her! 

Raising these goats was a learning experience from day one... a lot of hard work and fun all wrapped up in one. (I'll ask Jenna to write about it someday as a guest blogger.)

My computer is giving me headaches tonight...it won't let me type underneath the last picture, so I'll wrap it up right here...I should have one more post tomorrow night..

The night was topped of by a delightful young lady that we know well, getting the thrill of the evening...GRAND CHAMPION DAIRY BEEF!  Congratulations Katie!!

West Lampeter Fair...Day 2...

Day two at the Lampeter Fair began quietly.

The fair grounds were quiet and empty, save a few people who came early to feed their animals or to prepare for a morning of judging exhibits.   It will look a lot different tonight...

 My first responsibility this morning was to make sure that the judging of the baked goods ran smoothly.  We have two great judges that come year after year, and a wonderful group of volunteers who helped to display the judged items and prepare them for the evening's baked goods auction.  One of the fringe benefits of this job is the taste testing...

We were finished soon after lunch, and I headed home to tie up some loose ends.  After evening milking, we headed back over to the fair.  We caught the tail end of the antique tractor parade....there's that 1936 John Deere D again!  We were hoping to watch Marty participate in the tractor pull, but it was just too muddy, so it was cancelled.  That was disappointing, but mud is mud...

While Jenna headed off to feed her goats, Eric searched out friends, and Jim meandered around and talked with old friends, I headed to the baked goods auction.  All of the items that were judged this morning were sold tonight, and the proceeds put into the fair's general fund.  Although the total amount of entries was down this year, we still had  a good sale.  This young lady baked the prize winning Hershey's Chocolate Cake, and will be eligible to compete at the State Farm Show in January.  Her cake sold for $47...

I bought this blue ribbon Apple Pie...and it is delicious!  That little piece that is missing is the part that the judges tasted.  They left us a lot to enjoy...

I'll leave you with this image of total relaxation after a long day...

Tomorrow will be another busy day at the fair.  Jenna will be taking the day off school to prepare for the goat show.  Above all, we hope she enjoys herself! 

Stay tuned for more pictures!

West Lampeter Fair...Day 1...

Today was the beginning of the annual Lampeter Fair!

We hear...

Maaaaaaa...

Baaaaaaaa...

Moooooooooo...

Putt...Putt...Putt...Putt...

Laughter and the constant murmur of conversation...

We smell...

French fries...funnel cakes...sausage sandwiches...

Ummm...manure!

We see...

Old tractors...

Goats, sheep, pigs, steers, horses...

Quilts, crafts, baked goods,

Old friends...

Tents full of commercial exhibits (and free pens!)...

We feel...

Excited for another fair season...

Full from eating fair food...

Sad just thinking about saying goodbye to our 4-H animals...

Exhausted but happy...

And oh yes...a bit wet and muddy from the rain this afternoon...hopefully that's the last of it for the week!


  A line formed at the office for exhibitors to register their various entries....

Jim and I took Jenna's goats, April and Dot, over to the fair while she was in school.  After school, she came over and fed them and settled them into their pen.  They're happy to be surrounded by so many goat friends.  They don't know it, but their siblings are only a few pens away.  The goat show will be on Thursday at 4 pm...

My brother in law Marty entered his 1936 John Deere D in the antique tractor competition.  Tomorrow night he will participate in a tractor parade and an antique tractor pull.

Starting her up...

Heading down the driveway towards John Deere row...

 It sat in the middle of a Kansas field for umpteen years before he brought it to Pennsylvania and got it running last December.  He hasn't stopped grinning since!

It's just the beginning of a busy, fun week.  Entries will be judged tomorrow morning, and then the fair will be open to the public beginning at 1 pm.

Each night I hope to share a few pictures or stories from the day...stop by to see how it goes!

In Search Of...

In search of...

...a caption...

Ag Bag Row...

I call it Ag Bag Row...

The yard on the north side of our house is full of marshmallows...more than we've ever had before, and here's why...

This year has been challenging weather-wise to say the least!  We had an extremely wet spring...had a horrid stretch of hot, humid weather in July...had several weeks with no rain...then we battoned down the hatches for Hurricane Irene one weekend...and then amost drowned from Tropical Storm Lee the very next week...

   We prefer feeding good quality dry hay to the cows, but sometimes the weather just doesn't cooperate.  In the middle of the summer when the sun is hot, Jim listens for a forecast of three to four good drying days before he mows hay.  This summer was unusual!  We have one full hay mow of dry hay upstairs in the barn, and part of another, but a lot of the hay was baled wet, in round bales, and then wrapped.  After baling, the bales are left to cure for at least two weeks before being opened and fed.  This is what we call "Balage".

Jim marks them with spray paint, so he knows which field they came from, and sometimes the date they were baled...

E4...fourth cutting, from rental ground at "Esbenshades"
TS...this hay was from next to the "tobacco shed"
H5...fifth cutting from "home"
OFWP...from the "other farm" next to the well pump
OF5  9/19...fifth cutting from the "other farm"...baled on September 19th

We're almost finished with fifth cutting, and will possibly get a sixth off of some fields!  We'll see...

Ag Bag Row might not be quite done growing!

**Linking again to Farm Friend Friday...over at Verde Farm

Sky Red at Night...

Sky red at night...sailor's delight!  Sky red in the morning...sailors take warning!

This is the sky out my west kitchen window at suppertime tonight...it's red enough for me...

I'm sure most of you have heard that saying...I sure hope it's true!

This morning started out warm and humid, with rain showers.  We had all the fans running in the barn. 

 I was just telling Jim this morning how I'm so looking forward to the day when we don't have to run any fans in the barn.  They make so much noise, and I have to admit that we are both losing some hearing!  (today we went out for a lunch date, and one of us...I won't say who...couldn't even hear the server as she took our order!!)

So...after a rainy morning and dreary, windy afternoon, the temperatures dropped down into the high fifties, and we turned all the fans OFF in the barn for evening milking. 

It was blissfully quiet!

*Linking to Farm Friend Friday

My 7 Links...

It's been just over a year since I've started blogging, and a lot of water has gone under the bridge!  I hardly remember some of my earliest posts, so this comes at a good time for me...

Millie...a blogging goat...over at A Goat's View of Eden Hills, has quite a few interesting stories to tell about life on her farm.  She recently nominated me to do this post where I tell you about 7 of my posts.  This took me on a trip down memory lane...

My Most Beautiful Post...

This would have to be a tie...I love the beauty of springtime, shown here in this post...

May Showers

...but I also love the beautiful farmland...the lush, green fields, and this post shows a great perspective!  We're just about surrounded by development, but not quite!

Bird's Eye View


My Most Popular Post...

...I had no idea that so many people would google "meadow tea" and end up here!

Meadow Tea Recipe



My Most Controversial Post...

...I don't do controversy...but this might be controversial to some, especially to those who don't like the idea of eating meat, especially an animal that you've cared for...

It's Bittersweet

My Most Helpful Post...

...This is another tie...I did these two posts at the very beginning of my blogging.  Several friends who know nothing at all about farming wanted to know all about it...so here are the basics...

Dairy Farming 101 - part 1


Dairy Farming 101 - part 2


The Post Who's Success Most Surprised Me...

...This post also had a lot of hits...even before I had any followers...

Silo Filling (2010)


The Post That Didn't Get the Success I Think It Deserved...

...I thought this one was pretty interesting...but then again...maybe I didn't do a very good job of explaining it...

The Brains of the Barn


The Post I am Most Proud Of...

...and I'm most proud of this one, because I am TERRIFIED of heights, and I climbed the outside of the silo just to get these pictures.  And when I was halfway up, I heard a sound like a gunshot!  Made me stop in my tracks...the tractor running the blower shut down, and everyone looked around, trying to figure out the source of the noise.  Check out the last picture on the post to see where it came from...

Silo Filling - 2011

It's been fun reminiscing and coming up with these 7 links.  I hope you enjoy them!

Now it's my turn to pass this on to another blogger...

I think I'll pass this one on to Janis, at Animal Instinct.  I have enjoyed following blogs from as many different states as possible, and she has a herd of cattle in Vermont.  Lovely scenery...interesting tales to tell...stop over and check it out!

Hot Air Balloons...

After a week of rain and flooding in the county and beyond, it was wonderful to see the sun and blue sky today!

We had a special treat this evening...we counted ten hot air balloons passing by.  We regularly see them in the summertime, and some of them looked familiar..but not this one! I thought this tuxedo balloon was unique. 

There was a group of ten balloons that took off a few miles away as part of a special event.  It was a quiet evening, and we could hear the burners in the balloons as they floated by.  Several of them landed briefly in our Amish neighbor's field.  If you enlarge the picture, you can see his horses beside the tan shed in the center.  They were quite worked up...running back and forth...back and forth...



...and off they go again...

... they float southwest...into someone else's view to create some excitement...

It was a beautiful sight to top off a beautiful day!

R.A.I.N...

Rain, rain, go away...

What an unusual week!  The rain began on Tuesday morning...it's now Thursday noon, and it's still raining!  We've emptied our rain gage several times, and the total for the past three days is nearing 8".  Add that to the 3.5" we had last weekend from Hurricane Irene, and you've got a lot of water with nowhere to go.Many people have water in their basements, not to mention some people along the river being evacuated. 

We have much to be thankful for...we live on a hill... we don't have to drive to go to work...and we have a warm, dry place to go to after working outside in the rain all morning...

The kids are enjoying an unexpected day off, due to flooded roads.  It was a good time to read about the Phillies' win, with a little help from some friends...remember them?

They are not and will NOT be house kitties, but they sure are cute!

Rain, rain, go away, don't come back for many days!

On the Lighter Side...

Ok...so here's the real reason that certain family members are glad that the corn has been chopped...

Their playground is back!

Ok...so here's what we're gonna do...

Poor Murphy is tired out by all the action....

I think they had fun!

Irene's Aftermath...

It's been a week since the lovely Irene graced us with her wind and rain...

Many fields were left virtually untouched by damaging winds, but there were others that were left almost flat!  For us "English", who use large choppers to harvest corn for silage, the flattened fields can be troublesome enough.  But for the Amish, who typically use horse drawn binders to cut their corn and then put it through a chopper at the bottom of the silo, it's another story!

This morning we saw our neighbor using something we've never seen before.  When something like this happens, the Amish bishops give their permission for "unconventional" methods of harvesting. 

The horses in front are pulling a two row chopper, which blows the silage back into the silage wagon behind, which is pulled by a team of mules.  This was their first round on this field...this part of the field is still standing nicely...

Every so often they had to stop and unplug the chopper.  The mules wait patiently...

Some minor mechanical difficulties, and they're ready to go again.  Ahead of the horses, you can see the flattened corn...



 And off they go...



It's a bit tricky to hit the silage wagon!  The mules have to walk directly behind the chopper, at least on the outside rows, so the silage blows back over their heads, over the driver's head, and into the wagon.  They got it straightened out!

Some Amish farmers are getting the "English" choppers to come into their fields, but they can't get everyone's corn chopped before the corn gets too dry.  We've even heard of choppers going cross-ways throught the field to try to lift downed corn.  In situations like this, creative juices flow!

Thankfully, most fields aren't like this one!