Thankful Thursday & Oh the heat

I'm thankful for many things this week

1. we have good pen assignments
2. our new lighter trim stand for the sheep showed up
3. Sprout's leather craft project was turned in on time
4. I have vacation to be able to take next week to make things so much easier.
5. I have found show clothes for Sprout that actually fit (it's a saga for a growing kid )
6. we got rain
7. FarmBoy will be on vacation as well next week ( Last year he wasn't. )
8. friends will be visiting us at the fair
9. my sister will be there some to help keep me sane 
10.  I haven't lost my mind yet

In the midwest where we live the heat wave is here and it's miserable.  We usually see some heat at our fair, but this is a bit concerning for the next few days.  I've bought gatorade and loads of water to keep at the awning that we set up to use as a home base.  All of Sprout's show shirts are short sleeved, but I'm trying to come up with ways for her not to have to live in show jeans the whole day.  I'm praying the schedule is kind to her and we can change in and out of things.  

The rain is good for the crops, but not so good since it brought this heat.  It's supposed to break Sunday sometime, but that is the middle of the beef show so we will be in full show mode and trying not to kill each other from being grouchy in the heat.  Pray for all of us and all the 4Hers that we make it through will everyone safe.

Fair is almost here!

Friday we start checking in animals and I still have so much to do.  It's raining today so I won't get any pans or buckets washed, but that is okay since Sprout's leathercraft project is due.  She's all done with it and has the paperwork ready to go even.  Sheep pen set up is right after that and it will determine where her pens are.  Beef and swine pens were done in the last several weeks so this is the last setup we have to do.  Helping set up and take down often determine where your pens are located.

We have record sheets to finish, but all her quizzes are done so we are a bit ahead.  I'm hoping to get FarmBoy and her to sit down and start filling out the other paperwork tonight.  We should be doing this a little more often, but with most things it is usually a last minute thing.  I bought a paper sorter last year that at least sorts the paperwork appropriately and has her purebred paperwork all together.  

Here's what I think I have left to do to get us to the fair

1. wash pans and buckets and make sure I have enough for each animal
2. iron Sprout's last 3 shirts 
3. shine Spout's show boots
4. fix food that will be taken with us each day
5. wipe down all show boxes and load with the appropriate supplies
6. wash drink cooler
7. shave the pigs

I plan 3 sets of clothes for each show day in case she makes the cut and moves on.  Her first year her pig pooped down her pants the very first time we got him out of the pen for the first show.  Needless to say we were taking diaper wipes to her pants to be able to keep wearing them.  I learned my lesson.  I have ironed and set aside all but 3 shirts because I ran out of steam last night.  She will probably be the one to shine her boots, but it's on my list to make sure it's done.

Since I'm making ham salad and other things that have mayo in them I try not to make them too far in advance.  It won't take me too long to do it tomorrow night.  Tonight I'll get the shirts done and maybe cookies baked.  

It will all come together one way or another and we will load up the first animals on Friday morning and head off.  I'm working on Friday, but am on vacation all next week.  I keep the food moving and everybody clothed and fed.  In doing this hopefully don't lose my mind.  It's really fun once we get started.  I pray every morning that we remember we are blessed to be able to do this and have a good spirit about the visitors that come to the fair to see what we have and learn a just a little bit about the animals.

Why food is important at the 4H fair

Strange title huh?  Most folks I talk to think we are lucky we can eat fair food all week.  You can only eat so much fried goodness before it becomes not so good for you.  In an effort to keep belly pains down I fix one meal a day and take it with us to the fair.  We live close enough to our fair grounds that we eat breakfast at home so I'm generally packing lunch.  Also it keeps things a bit calmer on show days to not be running from booth to booth to gather food.  Sometimes the time between shows is tight and it just makes the day run smoother.

Let me give a little background to some of the set up at our fair.  We are allowed to have popup tents and have sort of a home base to hang out in while we are at there.  We are usually between our beef barn and horse barn because the ground drains well there and it's close to our livestock.  That is also important if I need power to run a crockpot, griddle, etc.  Some folks put a small refrigerator with their tack to keep drinks, etc. cold.  We haven't done that in the past, but it is always an option.  Usually I prepare a daily cooler and take it with us.  Because of what Sprout shows we start checking animals in on the Friday afternoon before the fair opens on Saturday and our last animal leaves the following Friday after the dairy open show.  Animals will come and go during the week depending on the show schedule.  We do go home at night.  There is no camping at the fair grounds.

So what do I feed the crew.  Here is my list for this year:
Saturday:  Chicken tacos and salad
Sunday:  Sloppy joes and chips
Monday: Ham salad and chips
Tuesday: Pulled pork and potato salad
Wednesday:  Salad day
Thursday:  Lunch meat and potato salad

I don't plan on anything for the last Friday because we are usually packing up and heading home by lunch.  I also have some staples that get packed every day like grapes, carrot sticks, cheese sticks, peanut butter, bread, and cookies.  I scratch make most of what is on my list and I pack generous amounts to share.  There is always family dropping in and out trying to see Sprout show.  Dinner unless she's still showing is fair food.  I can't deny pork burgers, corn dogs, ribeye sandwiches, etc. are mighty tasty.  I also do a post fair review of the food I took to see if I need to find something else to fix.  The list does change, but it has to be something I can feed a ton of people without a ton of  fuss.

Fair is coming!

Wow where did June go!  The check in for our fair is the 19th and we are in full training swing. 

The pigs walk okay.  One pig is better than the other.  FarmBoy does this with her.  We need to really be concentrating on their feed to finish them out.

The sheep are done good.  We've started putting them in the stands for some time to get them to start flattening out their back more.  They are walking well and setting good for her.  By show day they will be good.

The dairy heifer is good.  She's walking well for Sprout and she doesn't need any help from us or the handler.  The next is to get her to set her feet correctly.  Once that is done then she's all ready to go.

The feeder calf is also doing well.  We put a halter on him for the first time this weekend.  He didn't really care for it, but we did it anyway.  Sprout walked him with it as well and it went fairly good.  I don't think he's going to be a problem at all. 

The steer is a whole other story.  He's not calming down at all no matter what we do with him.  It's on the fence as to whether we can actually show him right now.  They've tried everything with him and nothing is working.  I would say by the end of the week we need to make a decision on what we are going to do about him. 

In the mean time I'm taking stock of all of the things that we need from food to drinks to water filters to be able to water the livestock while we are gone.  I think July 4 is going to be an inventory and working day and then maybe we can have some fun later in the day.  I've got my lists and as I go through them I'll be posting more about the things that are needed by species that we show.