Rocky......

  As the Jackson County Fair came to a close on Saturday, Denise experienced many emotions through out the day. From the high of receiving an award to saying goodbye to Rocky. Denise is a 10 year 4-H member and it's the last time she can participate in showing her animals. She prepared as usual for  Saturday at the fair. There are sometimes a million things to do with taking care of her animals but the Saturday ritual is family time. Denise, Derrick and Linda take a walk through the buildings, take pictures of their 4-H projects then stop by the Farm Bureau building and get an ice cream cone then head back to the camper to get dressed for the Auction. Reality sets in. For the past 4/5 months you have taken care of your animal, feed it, loved on it and worked with it. Teaching a pig or a cow to walk a certain way is not an easy thing to do. They can be stubborn at times.
   Derrick heads to the arena first with his pig and gets a good price for it. He comes back up and sets beside me and says, Wow, Sherry, I got a good price didn't I, now I got to start all over again for next year.
  After a few hours Denise enters the arena with Rocky. There is a story as to how Denise got Rocky.....his mother had died and he was left to fend for himself. Denise got word of this and went to his rescue. She loaded him up in Dalton's truck and rode in the bed of the truck with Rocky holding him. She bottled fed him for weeks round the clock till he was able to eat on his own. Rocky turned out to be a handsome Pollard Herford.
  As Denise walks Rocky around the arena to the sound of men throwing out bids the tears can no longer be still. Just as she turns around a group of guys are standing there with a plaque in hand. The announcer states that Denise has been chosen to recieve the, "Herdsman Award." The award was handed to her by the brother of Ethan Underwood who was killed in a car wreck a few weeks earlier. Ethan was also a 10 year 4-H member. It was so emotional, everyone was standing and cheering for Denise. She like Derrick also got a good price. We all headed back to the barn to tie Rocky up and wait for the man to come for him. We all gave Rocky a good rubbing behind the ears. I got attached to Rocky visiting him often in the barn. Number 21, the man says, load him in the red hauler. Denise unties Rocky with Linda not far behind, me and Derrick bring up the rear, we all head for the hauler. Denise tells the man she wants to keep his number tag from his ear and then she gives him a hug with tears running down her cheeks, the man loads him in the hauler. We all stand there for what seems like hours just looking a Rocky, looking back at us. Denise turns and heads back to the barn and tells us, lets go. She never looked back, her heart was hurting to much to take one more look at Rocky. I looked over my shoulder, to see Rocky watching us walk away. Denise still with tears in her eyes loads up the show box, and prepares to head home knowing that another door has just closed in her journey in life.

   Jackson-Jennings Co-Op purchased Rocky. They donated their purchase to a food pantry. Rocky was left to fend for his self as so many humans have to do. Rocky would be proud that he was helping take care of a hungry family......love you Rocky!!!

Design show......

  Celebrated my 10th year tonight designing flowers at the Jackson County Fair.  Seems just like yesterday I set up in the Horticulture building and started my fan club. I've made lasting relationships over the years and some of them have called and wanted to know how to do a certain design or needed some info on their garden plants. I enjoy helping and teaching them how to design beautiful flowers for their home. A couple of the ladies are now entering designs at the fair. One lady received Grand Champion this year....I was proud of her.  Once again Derrick was my helper, he's the best!

Enjoying the Fair.......

   Thomas and I enjoyed our evening at the fair. We ran into a lot of friends that we hadn't seen in a while and it was great to visit with them. We spent some time in the FFA building playing with the ducks. I love getting the ducks out and letting the kids pet them and love on them. As you can see in the pictures the baby boy is so amazed by the duck that I don't think he ever blinked his eyes, smiled or made any facial expression. He kept his eyes on the duck even as his brothers and sisters were talking and petting the duck. His face never changed. Thomas said watching the baby was more fun that watching the other kids.

The right place at the right time.......

Thomas and I have been looking at flooring for the past few months. We're doing away with all the carpets in our house room by room. We layed wood flooring in the living room, dinning room and the parlor (Granny Clampit had one, why can't I) back in the spring. It's easy to care for and clean. Carpets can be cleaned but you never really get the dirt out or those tiny little bugs that can only be seen under a microscope. We headed to Menards in Columbus today to see if they had any new styles since the last time we were there. We looked at few that were on sale. I went to the next isle and found a bargin and the flooring was just what we were looking for. We loaded the cart with 17 boxes and headed to the check out. The cashier told me what my total was and said you saved $400 dollars today. Thomas and I looked at each other and smiled......now all we have to do is rip up three rooms of carpet and lay down the new floor.

I'll leave you with the beautiful sunset we watched as we walked Lily and Bristol about 9pm

Fun times in the Pig Barn.....

   Dinner had to severed for the pigs before Denise, Linda and I enjoyed the night at the fair watching the Queen Pageant. The pigs were doing what they do best-just laying around. As soon as Denise got the feed sack out and Linda got the pans down they were up and ready for supper. They were doing their little dance just waiting for her and as usual they let her know she was not working fast enough.

Ckeck your settings....Ducks and Denise

Sarah and Pat helped me load the ducks in the crate for the ride over to their new home at the Jackson County Fair. I didn't need the radio on as they chirped all the way over. As we prepared to introduced them to their new home for the week, Derrick was going to take pictures. This is where, "always check your settings", comes in.............

.....it was a great picture with the water still splashing. We'll try again today as I go back and work with the rest of the kids (ducks).

Later in the evening we headed to the show arena to watch Denise show one of her piggies. I've been watching Denise show her animals since she was a young girl. Today watching her bring a tear to my eye as I realized the end of her show days was coming to end. Thomas and I are so proud of her.

Thanks to my wonderful friend who found this poem and sent it to me. I hope you take a few minutes and read it and that you will begin to make that little line memorable.

Ducks and a Doggie......

  It's that time of year-babysitting for ducks. Linda was out early on Thursday morning picking up the ducks as they arrived at the post office. I had their vacation home all ready with food and water. We opened the box and we seen 25 beautiful fluffy baby ducks just 2 days old. We got them settled in and I began teaching them how to drink and where to find their food. You only need to show a few and the rest follow. They will be mine till next Saturday when I take them to the FFA Building at the fair. I will have to teach them how to go down the slide....enjoy the pics!!

I loved all the pictures, but this one was my favorite. Seems he is giving me the---are you done taking pictures yet look?

   Your wondering where the Doggie comes in at-this is what a customer requested that I make this morning.........

Dazzling Stargazers.......

   Rolling in at 4am this morning, I was not able to see all my flowers. I could tell that even though they were watered twice a day the heat had still effected them. Later in the morning I went outside to make sure all the animals had plenty of fresh water. I rounded the corner to the water spicket and this is what I saw........

   I knew when I left that they were getting ready to open and I figured they would pop while I was gone. Guess they were expecting me....what a welcome. I misted them with water to keep them cool a couple times today. They were so beautiful I wanted them to last.

   The branches from the sweet pea bush is giving them much needed shade. I was tempted all day to cut them and keep them in the cooler for my design show in a few weeks.

   One word cannot describe their beauty--dazzling, ravishing and exquisite..............

Winding down.....

   As we prepare to load up and head home my mind is going into a lot of different directions. We've enjoyed our vacation so much. It's good to get away and let your mind and body rest. Your able to get away from the every day grind of work, meetings and the every day drama that creeps into your life.
But I've missed home. I long for watering my flowers, working in my gardens and relaxing on my back porch. Sarah, Sandra and Daddy have been watering and watering while we were gone. Sarah said they all look good and none of them have died. I've missed my BFF Cindy and Linda but we've talked almost every evening. Keeping in touch is good but I miss seeing their smiles.
   I hope everyone makes time to get away, if not for a week maybe just for a few days. It's good for the soul......

 

Doing what you want..........

Vacation is a time for rest and relaxation. To take long naps and do nothing but what you want to do. Bristol has been doing that. He went round and round until he got the pillow in the chair just where he wanted. He nestled it and flopped down, closed his eys and napped for at least and hour. Ahh.....vacation!!

Blueberry Waffles......

Headed to the Flea Market yesterday. We enjoy the fresh produce that they offer. I told Linda of the variety and she said, "send pics". These are for you Linda....

We bought, peaches, blueberries, strawberrys, cherrys and watermelon. This morning I made blueberry waffles for breakfast. I will admit we made pigs of our selves......but we are on vacation!!!