Calgon took me away!...Well, not really Calgon more like 4-H took me away!

You know how life can sometimes interfere with things?  Well, life interfered with my 1st attempt at a blog.  4-H, summer, livestock, county and state fairs all seemed to push this to my back burner for awhile.  I talked with my friend Lisa who blogs over at Grassy Branch Farm (I am totally jealous of her AWESOME blog by the way!) who has given me the inspiration to try this again.  I just have to sit down and write, even if it is just a few words to tell you about our day.

WOW, what a summer it has been!  We finally got the fair under our belt.  Sheep, hogs, and chickens that were so carefully taken care of were all on display.  But that's not all...woodworking, veterinary science and a conservation project called "Let's Explore the Outdoors" were also.  Some of Austin's accomplishments included 2nd place breeding sheep showmanship, 1st Intermediate chicken showmanship, 6th hog showmanship, Grand Champion crossbred hen, Reserve Champion crossbred rooster, 3rd overall Berkshire hog, Best Intermediate woodworking project (he made his hog showbox) which also was a state fair representative,  Best Vet Science project which also went to state fair.  He also received Outstanding 4-H club environmental officer, along with our club receiving Outstanding 4-H display booth and the Silver Club award.  He was also on the safety speaking skit team of 4 from our club that won both county and districts and got to participate in the state contest their 1st time ever doing it. We are so very proud of him and his accomplishments.  He is already starting on projects for next year.  We just turned the ram out with the ewes so we will have babies in the spring for projects! 

Here are a few pictures from this year's fair.
 

During all this fun activity we also installed a new pool!  It was great to come home to after the fair and cool off with family and friends.  Now to start landscaping around it.  I would like to turn it into my own little Key West in my backyard.  Plus we are adding some new chicken friends to our little farm.  Patrick ordered Austin some new bantie chicks to add to his collection for his birthday and a friend gave him a silkie rooster.  He has already been raising 2 little ones in his room that were hatched in the coop 2 weeks ago.  That boy sure does love taking care of and raising his animals.

Well, that has been our summer in a nut shell so far.  Hopefully, I am on the right path to keep on blogging and things become more interesting.  Lisa, I may be calling you for assistance!!! =) 

Thanks everyone for reading and have a wonderful day!

Ewe's, Food, and Dog's

Hope this post find's everyone having a good winter.  So far it has been fairly warm here in Ohio with spurts of snow here and there but it doesn't last long.  I love snow so this winter is a little depressing for me. =(  We are supposed to get some starting tomorrow afternoon but it's not supposed to last long with the temperature rising back up over the weekend.

We have 3 4-H ewe's due to have babies this weekend.  These lambs will be Austin's show lambs and hopefully a couple can be sold to other 4-H kids to show.  The excitement is building around our little slice of heaven.  We are keeping them penned up at night in the barn and in lambing pens with heat lamps just in case.  Austin and I can't wait!  When you stand back and watch their bellies as they are relaxed in the barn you can see the babies moving around.  It is a beautiful sight to see. 

So I started a diet...yea, this is going really well.  I AM STARVING and NEED FOOD! LOL!  I know a lot of people feel like me and are trying to diet but this is driving me nuts.  My friend keeps telling me that I need to take it slowly and eat smaller meals and healthy snacks more often during the day.  I am trying.  I don't really have a goal weight, I just want to loose to be more healthy and yes, skinny! HaHa!  I love food so this is gonna be a struggle.  Hopefully I will have the discipline to stay on track.  As for a workout, well who has time for that???  I think I am going to start walking up and down the hill at work everyday.  Maybe that will help!

I have a friend that her mini farm is under "attack"!  Having livestock, especially sheep and goats, is nerve wracking and trying at times.  In the last week my friend Tracy's farm has had a local roaming dog attack chickens and a coyote kill a goat, "Little Bit".  Little Bit was a triplet doeling that started life as a small, timid goat that she nursed into a beautiful doe that's life was cut way too short.  The dog has hopefully been taken care of.  The owners have been informed and warned by the local sheriff.  As for the coyote's, they are going to be hunted and eliminated.  The attack was during the daylight hours which is unusual but not necessarily unheard of.  They must be hungry and very brave to attack during the day.  The coyote's travel in packs and plan out what and how they are going to take down.  Say a prayer that there are no more attacks on their farm.   

Hope everyone has a great rest of the week and an even better weekend!  Cross your fingers we have baby lambs soon!

Snow, Buckeyes and 4-Wheel Drive

Hope this post finds everyone having a good evening!

As the saying goes, "You are in Ohio if you don't like the weather just wait 5 minutes, it will change."  Not sure where this snow came from but I don't remember the local weatherman predicting this.  Oh well, we will deal with it.  I actually like snow.  It turns the leafless trees and landscape into a winter wonderland.  Winter is natures way to taking a break from all of summers beauty.  I don't blame her one bit, like all of us she needs a chance to rest and recharge.  But mother nature can do away with the blowing wind.  With wind we get blowing snow.  So this fall I got a "new to me" vehicle which has 4-wheel drive.  I was so excited!  Well guess what??  I got to use that little button that says 4HI on it today.  My husband was laughing at me today as I was telling him all about it after work.  Deep down I knew that I probably didn't need to use it but I really couldn't get up a hill that I was stopped on at a stop sign.  That button really did help!  But really people, it's only snow!  It brings out the best in peoples driving abilities.  There are some crazy people out there!

As for the Buckeyes,  one word only describes their bowl game today...pathetic.  Really, why did we even go to a bowl game?  Was the team even on the field?  Everyone is all hyped up for Urban but well, I am not too fond of the guy.  Yea, i know he coached some great teams but don't come into a press conference and say "I will always be a Gator … will always be a part of that situation. However, this is my home state. And it’s great to be back home."  Don't care that this is your home state Urban, if you want to be a true Buckeye you gotta get rid of the Gator in you.  And that grin that he always has on his face creeps me out.  As my friend Cathy posted on facebook, "Just in case anyone is wondering,,,,Budweiser Shoot-out is in 46 days,,and the Daytona 500 is in 54 days."  Can't wait till speed weeks!! =)

All the animals were snug in the barn or in their boxes full of straw all warm and cozy for this cold winter evening.  Today's high was 30 with our low overnight of 18, breezy and snow showers.  Bundle up if you are going to be outside! BRRRRRR!

Have a great evening everyone!  Hope I didn't bore you too much!

The New Year 2012

Happy New Year! 

As I sit here and think about 2011 and what 2012 will bring, I decided that documenting 2012 might be a fun, learning experience for both myself and hopefully for other people too.  I remember reading the day to day journals of rural life in my MaMa Bell's Farm & Ranch Living magazines growing up.  I loved to read about what happened on the ranches and farms across America.  I am hoping that this blog can be somewhat like those early magazine diaries and that this blog will just be a fun diary of our daily or weekly life here on our own few acres of heaven.  Hopefully you will get a laugh or two, maybe a tear, and possibly learn a few things along the way.  I'm not sure how to begin but well, here goes:

Let me introduce myself, I'm Beth! LOL!  I'm married to Patrick, have a son Austin and work at a veterinary clinic.  We live on a small (as my friend Tracy calls her's) "mini-farm".  We have lots of animals around including a cat, 3 dogs, 4 birds, 6 banty chickens, 2 ducks, 1 turkey and 5 crossbred ewe's.  Yes, we do eat some of what we raise like the lamb, chickens, and eggs.  I like to try to keep a garden but most of the time it just turns into a big weed patch with tomato's and onions somewhere in it! We love 4-H and it is a HUGE family affair around here.  I am advisor of my own 4-H club and co-advisor of our local 4-H Junior leader club as well as active with our local Shepard's club.   

We are getting ready for baby lambs to arrive!  It's always a fun time and I usually have to drag Austin from the barn on school nights. Austin is such a big help in the barn when things really get going around here.  All the lambing pens are set up and ready to go.  We are hoping all the ewe's will have twins so that we can sell some for 4-H projects.  It's been a pretty mild late fall and early winter so far but the rain is really making the barn lot a wet mess but we are dealing with it.  There isn't much we can do about it.  Muddy boots are always at the back door and dog's muddy paw prints are all over the floor.  Thank goodness for wood floors and my Swiffer wet jet.  It is definitely getting a work out this time of year! 

Today's weather:
It's Ohio so it is always changing!
Started out at 54 this morning and sunny but windy and now it's down to 32 and snow flurries. It sound's like hurricane force winds out there!!  If it wasn't tied down today it's probably in the next county by now!! 

Well, I hope you had a good first read.  I know it's not the best first blog post but hopefully they will get better the more I get used to writing them.  Have a great night!
Beth