Fair Time

Well, well, well… I have no idea where to begin.  After last week I have officially ended a huge chapter in my life and I am now starting a new one.  Last week as you all know was the big Highland County Fair.  Last week was my last show as a 4-H member and my last time getting to show our “little third world hobby” (crossbred feeder calves) as Dad would say.  It’s not that I am sad about growing up; it is that I am finally leaving behind the thing that has helped me grow the most in the past 10 years.  Through my 4-H experiences, I met two of my best friends in the entire world, Abby Helterbrand and Austin Trueblood, they have always been there for me and I would take a bullet for those guys any day.  We have learned a lot together and grown up together.  There has been a lot of blood, sweat, and tears (ok maybe not so much blood… but it helps prove my point =)…) and without 4-H I have no idea what kind of person I would be. So I highly suggest anyone with kids, or who plan on having kids in the future, put them in 4-H, I am so glad my parents did and my sister and I really appreciate it!

              I bet you all are wondering how the actual show went. Well Mary, my Angus October heifer calf (Mary is a descendant of the GAR Lucy Boy G158 cow that has been a foundation of many of our great show heifers) was supreme heifer, and Miss Kitty, Lauren’s AOB was Champion in her division. Highland County defiantly has to have one of the toughest heifer shows in the state seeing a majority of all the heifers entered participated on a national level.  As for the feeder calf show Hank was reserve in his division behind the Champion feeder, and Fez won his class. Lauren was champion in her division with Boomer and was second in class with BAMF.  Austin and Huggy then swept the steer show. So you can’t get much better than that! Oh! Not to forget Abby was Grand Champion Market Barrow!!! Then probably the most exciting thing of all was that I finally beat my sister in Showmanship and got to go for showmen of showmen… for those of you who don’t know, Lauren has had a knack for kicking my butt at the county fair.  Showman of showmen was really fun though. My favorite was probably the lamb and hog, but all I’m going to say is that a milking shorthorn is just as dumb as a regular shorthorn and rabbits ARE NOT as cute and cuddly as everyone thinks they are! But I got lucky and was able to actually have the honor to win 1^st place….. So this county fair is defiantly one to remember and I wouldn’t have wanted to go out any other way.

            This week Austin and I have been in charge of getting things ready for the sale while Lauren plays soccer and mom and dad make hay.  We get a lot done but at the end of the day when we look at the barn one last time it still seems like there is so much to do! Noah and Jess are coming in this weekend, and I am really bummed I wont get to see them until the sale but at least I get out of building sale pens! Although I am pretty sure that after Lauren and Jess had to fix all the pens Austin and I had put up that I am officially off fence building detail.  The cows look great, and I am really nervous to see how everything will turn out.  But all we can do now is wait and see.

            As most of you know I move in to college Sunday to The Ohio State University!  I am so excited but yet scared shitless! (Sorry for the profanity, but this is a big deal!) I am anxious to meet my roommates and see how well I will adjust.  Columbus is a big change from Hillsboro! Well I have to finish packing, so if anyone has any college survival tips… don’t hesitate to share!

 

Until next time….

 

Lindsey