Babies on the Bottle

We've still got babies on the bottle.

And when friends come over, we put them to work.

Be forewarned.

A farmer's work is never done.

PeeWee Awards

We took all our goats home today at the crack of dawn

and came back at noon for the PeeWee awards.

We had a blast in this program 

specially designed for the little ones ages 5-7.

It meant Sarah and I had to attend 4-H meetings 

not only for my club but also for PeeWees.

Double duty.

But so worth it.

The Elusive Belt Buckle

This was really Ranae's year!

Today she won the All Around Herdsman Award

in the Senior Division.

It is the highest honor in the Goat barn at our fair.

And with it came a big belt buckle.

I hope she doesn't fall over when she wears it!

Goat Showmanship

Sarah and her goat Dreamer participated in Showmanship tonight.

As it turns out, Dreamer was not a dream to show.

He was quite stubborn.

But Sarah did not lose her cool.

She kept calm and didn't stop trying.

We were very proud of her indeed.

The classes started big, with lots of goats and participants, 

and as the night wore on

the judge asked some to leave the ring

as she was searching for her first, second and third placings.

For the first time in seven years of trying,

Ranae won first place in showmanship!

She was so happy, she cried.

And do did I!

Say a Prayer

How nice it is to hear a public prayer.

A prayer for all the young people competing,

and the animals in their care.

A prayer for the judges and adult leaders

in charge of the proceedings.

To bow our heads with respect

and to hear respectful words

is a great way to start.....

anything.

Tonight was the Goat Skillathon

and the Goat Bowl Competition.

It was also the day to check in poultry.

Ranae was unable to check in her chicken

because it was eaten by a raccoon 3 weeks ago.

Nothing was left but a few feathers.

Raccoons are disliked intently on our farm.

No matter how cute their faces are.

Goat Agility

Today at the fair was the goat agility competition.

Before that the girls have to feed their animals and clean their pens.

Since America is at the fair, her 4 kids are too.

They are all getting a bottle to supplement what they get from their mom.

This is Eli getting his share.

For goat agility our fair lets the Pee Wees go first.

(That's what they call the group of kids 5-7 years old.)

Sarah and her goat Dreamer won second place 

with a time of 52 seconds!

(That's her in the purple shirt.)

Ranae and her goat, Barnabas, didn't place this year.

But she had fun competing.  

Fair Time

Well.  It's fair time.

And this year Sarah will be showing for the first time.

The bad news is that my camera is basically broken.

What I mean by "basically broken", 

is that the lens doesn't stay attached to the camera. 

So in order to take a picture,

I have to perform some difficult hand gymnastics.

But I did manage to take a few.

First up was the ADGA Youth Show.

Ranae showed America who was in full milk

having just delivered quads in February.

(These pictures are from the next day at the ADGA show.) 

 America did very well

and was the Nigerian Dwarf Grand Champion 

at the Youth Show the night before these pictures were taken.

At the ADGA show she did not place.

There were some beautiful animals there 

from around the state of Florida.