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When 2021 began, we were all excited to put the year of Covid behind us and return to normal life. While 2021 was more normal, I can't say it was the year of moving on that we were all hoping for.
We thought things couldn't get much worse than 2020, but our 2021 brought some epic challenges and roadblocks that we never saw coming. We survived, but I can honestly say we are anxious to put this year behind us and move on to a better 2022.
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Frosty the snowcow was a jolly happy cow
With fluffy ears and curly coat and two eyes that looked so sweet. Frosty the snowcow is a farmers tale they say. He was made of fur but the children know how he came to the farm one day. There must have been some magic in the old trailer that came that day For when they opened up the gate he began to run around. It's been a couple of weeks now since we were in Louisville, Kentucky for the North American International Livestock Expo. This show is the start of our show season and then we come home long enough to throw in some laundry, head to the grocery store to buy all the food for Thanksgiving, then re-pack our suitcases to head to our cabin to celebrate Thanksgiving with our families. I normally try to grab a few minutes in the gap between trips or while the Thanksgiving feast is digesting, to get my show reports done and you all updated on the events of the week. At the last minute, I decided not to pack my laptop this year and to fully enjoy the time with my family. I'm feeling a little guilty at the backlog of paper work, but it was worth it.  Miniature Herefords at the North American International Livestock Expo Louisville felt different for me this year. I'm not really sure why, but probably because the past year has almost broken me. I have cried buckets...just ask my family.
A few weeks ago, one of the biggest stressors resolved itself and I have finally been able to take a deep breath, sleep through the night (except for when I wake up thinking about the show) and realizing that things are good again. My emotions are still raw, but being on the other side of something bad has helped me to appreciate the little things that feel so good. The cows are loaded, the trailer is busting at the seems and we are headed south to Louisville, Kentucky. This week we will be showing at the North American International Livestock Expo. Louisville means something different for everyone. It is a national show where people and cows gather from all over the country. For some, it is the biggest show they attend and for others it is the start of something new. For us, Louisville means the start of show season. It is the debut for many of our cows, which brings a different level of excitement. The first time a cow stands before a judge, you get a pretty good idea of whether its going to be a good year of just another year.  Last week was busy making final preparations and some last minute unplanned preparations....like replacing the brakes on the trailer.
Blast is becoming the yo-yo bull.
Born here on our farm, sold, bought back, sold again, and now he is home again. We love this bull...but four mature bulls on our small farm is just too much...so Blast was the one that always had to go.
With cooler weather comes shorter days and longer nights. It also means doing chores in the dark, especially now that we are spending late nights in the barn getting cows ready for the fall show season.
The older Daniel gets, the more light he wants. The brighter the better! 
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I do have my limits. Daniel is more than welcome to that LED ultra bright blue light in the barn, garage and basement, but I get the soft warm light in the house.
As usual, summer goes way too fast. Isaac and Walker are both back in school and we are starting to adjust to a more normal routine. Because...nothing is routine around here in the summer...except for routine chaos. I always think summer is busy...but I have no idea what happened to this summer.  Walker was the main farm hand this summer because everyone else was working full-time jobs off the farm.
To be quite honest... there hasn't been a whole lot going on with the herd this summer. Which is how we want it to be. Two weeks ago today, we ended our ten day run at the fairs. We started at the Knox County Fair and ended and the Ohio State Fair. This year was different for us. Yes, some of the different was because of Covid changes, but most of the different was because we were all too aware that this was our first last. This was Isaac's last year at the Knox County Fair and the last day of the Ohio State Fair marked his last "kid" activity before heading off to college.  The campground crew. Sleepless nights did not keep them from giving it their all in the show ring. There were a lot of kids that spent this year soaking up their "lasts", so there weren't many "no's" coming from us.
This weekend will mark the final time that Isaac moves animals into the Knox County Fair as a 4-H member.  Not so long ago, he was a nine year old arriving at the county fair for the very first time.
Oh, how things have changed since then. It has now been two weeks since we started our journey out to Duncan, Oklahoma for the Miniature Hereford Breeders Association and Miniature Hereford Youth Foundation Miniature Hereford Junior Nationals. We arrived to humid mid-nineties temperatures, but fortunately, the hottest days ended up being the day we unloaded and the day we loaded. The rest of the week was just about the best weather we could have asked for. It was still hot, but a couple of cloudy and rainy days helped to keep the temperatures and humidity bearable. Besides, the show ring and contest areas were all air conditioned, so if the heat got to be too much, we had plenty of places to escape. We did keep an eye on the radar (because we do have a kid terrified of tornadoes), but the few night time storms were fairly mild and most of the red cells stayed just outside our radars.  You know you had a good time when after 10 days no one in the family is ready to go home. Not only were we not ready to go home...but we were all ready to head right back to Oklahoma as soon as we did get home.
We all agreed, this was the best Junior Nationals and best cattle show we have ever been to. It was just plain fun! |
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AuthorHello! I am Heather... the city girl turned mom to manure loving country boys. My husband and I both grew up in the city, but spent weekends visiting grandparents in the country. We are first generation farmers who learn best by almost always doing things the hard way. I hope you enjoy following along with our adventures down on the farm. Archives
December 2021
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