One week at a time: Week 56

It's a bit tough to see it in this picture on the right, but this is the first time that Hannah has petted Betsy without the poor, confused puppy shying away from her. Now, of course the little girl didn't know she had touched the dog, she just felt the change in texture behind her. And, of course, Betsy had no idea it was Hannah who was touching her head. She just was comfortable in her place between Mom and Dad, and didn't mind whatever was going on behind her. But with comfort and decreased fear will come a growing love for her new human.

Speaking of Betsy, it's been a while since I shared any fun nuggets of life from her end. She has been happily enjoying the changes that come along with fall. Pernicious squirrels, falling leaves, the last bullfrog hurrah, and pre-hibernation varmits obsessed with eating and unaware of her approach. And then there's the frisky sheep. For those of you non-oviners, most sheep come into breeding season in the fall with the shorter days and cooling weather, similar to deer. This leads to some antics on the part of the sheep that I will not elaborate, and a protective attitude of the sheep towards their family which Betsy finds immensely entertaining. She chases and barks, then runs away, then hops through the gate and circles around behind the boss ewe. Very funny to watch, if you're not a sheep.

Another habit we've picked up in the last few weeks has been the consumption of sheep feed. The video doesn't quite do Betsy's attraction for molasses and cereal grains justice, but it's the only one I've gotten so far.

The fermenters are once again back in full swing. Of course they had to die at the end of this week, but we will start up again next week. As mad as it makes me, it does give me the opportunity to spend a bit more time working with the family at the fair, which I am grateful for. My wife and I volunteer a lot at the fair and without the extra time, it would have been even harder to take care of Hannah amidst all the chaos. It's just frustrating that the fermenters have died so many times in a row - this one due to a blocked buffer drip which killed the buffer supply and allowed the pH to rapidly decline to ~5.4 from 6.4 in 1 hour. Very severe, and listed as DOA.

My wife teaching our 4-Her how to shear a sheep for show.

So the fair started informally on Friday of this week, when we brought in the market lamb that a 4-H member has been keeping at our house all this spring and summer. "Chester" looked pretty good in my opinion, a bit light on the weight for a fall show, but he was a good lamb with some natural muscle and good structure for moving about freely. More impressive was our 4-H'er's hard work and willingness to dive right in to things she was just learning about for the first time. This summer she learned to feed, water, catch, walk, shear, clip, fit and show. Not bad for a first-timer. She embodies what the 4-H experience is really all about, and even though she didn't win in the show on Sunday, she did get a 5th place in showmanship (a test of your ability to handle your lamb) and her great work ethic is enough to be proud of on its own.

Me with my "oversize load".

I had my own competitions to enter in, none of them having to do with the live stock side of the fair. Instead, I have been entering in the photo contest for about 8 years now, and this was also my second year in the gardening contests. I was shooting for tallest sunflower since I noticed them take off towards the sun back in June and thought I had a pretty competitive stalk. So I entered and waited for the day and then had the realization that there was not a snowball's chance in July of getting the darn thing up to the fairground unscathed. We didn't own a truck or trailer, and the rest of the family was far too busy to help. So I did what any other person would do - shoved it into my '99 Corolla. Toyota should use me as the next spokesperson for roominess. It wasn't pretty, but I did get the head down in the passenger side on the floor and then run the stalks out through the window. Sure, they bounced and waved a bit, and sure, I had to go in to work first like this, but American ingenuity and stick-to-it-ness triumphs again.

For all that work, I later found out that I was a good 5-6 feet shy of the tallest sunflowers, and dead last for the largest head. Must have been a good year for the pros. But there were a few small victories on the day. My habanero peppers won first place, and my heirloom oxhart tomatoes that I started on the front porch in April with free seeds from the county extension office ended up winning both first place and best in class for all tomatoes at the fair!

Photograph was also a success. Not just because the pictures did pretty well, but more importantly because we have settled into just taking pictures that we like for ourselves, and the judges have been in some agreement over the past few years. I will close the rest of the blog out with a few of the best pictures, showcasing the wonder of this great world we live in. If you want to see more of them, check out my photo album (my wife hasn't created one yet) on Picasaweb, and remember, I reserve all rights on these photos.