Double Dipping

Last week was a busy one for these grandparents. In addition to the eldest grandson playing baseball in the state tournament, we had a couple of grandsons showing their cattle at the State Beef Expo. Thank goodness both events were taking place in the same town. So, while we had about a forty-five minute drive to our destination, we could take in both activities, since they were only a couple of blocks away from one another.

Angus Steers in the District Champion Class

The first day was actually the district show. Both boys did a wonderful job showing off their animals. They held the calves' heads high and positioned their feet just so. They watched the judge and kept an eye on their calf as well. All of us were pleased at how they were 'dialed in' and focused on doing their best.

Easton with his steer

It was evident that the boys had done their homework because their animals behaved beautifully. The calves responded to the gentle tugs and nudges from the boys and handled almost like pets. Of course that kind of behavior only comes after hours of practice at home and those boys had a ritual every single day for working with each animal.

That's a lot of meat on the hoof!

Levi's heavyweight steer won a banner for Reserve Champion Angus Steer in the district show and got a blue ribbon in his class the next day in the State Angus Steer Show. Easton's steer won a blue ribbon in the district show and was in the top five in the state show. Little brother was not a happy camper that big brother placed a bit higher than him but we don't think either of them did any too shabby! 

Easton's first official steer show

Levi had a couple of heifers to show as well. The first one was a farm bred and raised Angus heifer. The second one was a Hereford heifer that is what we hope is the start of a herd. The Mister has had a lifelong dream of having Herefords. He has talked about it for years and finally bit the bullet and bought one. 

Levi with Kaitlynn

She is sort of a family favorite because she is so docile and friendly. Even little sister has been putting her through her daily paces in the pasture beside the barn. Every afternoon they have a backyard mini-show. First, each animal is rinsed - Easton's specialty. Next, each one has its hair blown out and styled - Levi's specialty. After they all eat their feed, they are led in a circle around the yard or pasture a few times and stopped to practice setting up and standing patiently before they are set free for the evening. The next morning they are all haltered and led into the barn for their morning feeding. They spend the day inside with fans blowing on them during the day and the ritual starts all over again late in the afternoon.

Levi and heifer sharing kisses

It is so much fun for us to watch the guys exhibit their cattle and so rewarding to see them do so well after watching all the hard work that went into preparing. We watched them show their calves for a while one day. Then, I went to the ball park and watched Harris and his team play. The next day the Mister and I thought we would split up and one watch the ballgame and the other watch the cattle show but it turned out to be a rain out for the ball tournament. So, we both watched the cattle show. I sat with a friend from my collage days and we shared tales and photos of grandchildren. The next day we watched a bit of the cattle show and then went to the ball park for a game. That sort of action went on for the duration. So, we sort of double dipped by taking in both events happening in the same town. We felt so fortunate that both events were taking place only a short distance apart and we got to see a little bit of both events.

A New Venture

The Mister and I both grew up on dairy farms. So, we have been surrounded by agriculture all of our lives. His family had Jersey cows that were soft brown and my family had Holstein Friesians that were black and white. After we married, we would go to the local fair and wander round and think about days gone by and the Mister would always say, "I always wanted a Hereford (red with white face) beef heifer," and I would just roll my eyes. 

A decade ago, the Mister spent his time raising calves on a bottle and we had a barn full of calves. He wound up selling them all and really retiring, thank goodness. Having livestock like that can really limit a person's freedom and become strenuous work. Somebody has to be there to feed them each and every day. Their health has to be checked each and every day. Sometimes they will need medical treatment due to illness or injury. These animals can be quite large and are generally a bit rambunctious. Good facilities and equipment are a necessity when it comes to taking care of a herd of cattle. So, we didn't feel as if we were in the physical shape to care for a herd of steers and didn't really have the facilities and equipment to handle them either. So, the sale of the steers happened and the Mister retired. However, that dream of owning a docile Hereford heifer never really went away...

My uncle had a Charolais (white) beef cow give birth to twins several years ago and the cow would not let one of the calves nurse. So, the calf came to our house and the Mister raised her with a bottle. I thought that heifer dream itch had been scratched. When she matured, she was turned in with my bonus son's Angus (black) beef cattle. He started off his herd with four young females and has been raising and selling steers to local 4-Hers for several years. The Charolais just joined the herd and she also has produced some steers and a couple or three heifers over the years. Still, the Mister's dream of the docile Hereford beef heifer persisted...

Miss Moo Moo, the Charolais, and one of her calves.

Eventually, I grew tired of rolling my eyes and shaking my head. So, the Mister began researching and shopping online for his heifer. He convinced me that the grandsons who live next door are big enough to help take care of her and exhibit her in local fairs and shows. "They already have their own Angus heifers and steers. She will fit right in with their animals." Then, last Saturday there was a state Hereford sale. So, the Mister got a bidder number. Then, he was diagnosed with Covid a couple of days before the sale. He was really bummed until he learned that they would be live streaming the sale. So, we have a new venture...

Levi exhibited her in the show on the day after the sale. Then, they hauled her home with their steers and tied her in the barn with them so that she would be easy for them to take care of.  She gets led and brushed and petted and all of the livestock show prep things each day. He reports that she is a sweetie and is docile and cooperative. 

She is a really pretty young lady. I love how her hair is an almost exact match to our grandson's. She does seem docile and very much like a big old pet. Mike takes the ATV up the hill almost every afternoon to watch them. There are lots of grins. I think the Bonus Son and Levi grin that the Mister comes and sits and watches. I see the grin on the face of the Mister when he comes back down the hill. I hope she continues to bring smiles to everybody around here. 

Just Three Things | #8

The week started out with a bang bringing us snow flurries and cold, cold temperatures. Then, it closed out pleasantly with sunshine and the temperature in the low seventies. As they say, if you don't like the weather in Tennessee, just hang around and it will be totally different tomorrow! 

- What I'm Reading -

I've poked through a few more cookbooks this week. One of the nephew's son is getting married and a bridal shower is planned for later this month. The invitation included a recipe card for me to share one of our family's favorites. We really love food. Eating is one of our favorite pastimes. So, narrowing it down to just one recipe is going to be really difficult! This week I finished up reading the Ina Garten and Mary Kay Andrews cookbooks and started in on some older ones that I used when I was a young woman just starting out on my own. 

Starr Recipes from Greystone is one I got when I was in college at The University of Tennessee. A friend baked me a cake and gave me the recipe book so that I would have the recipe to bake one later. Over the years I have made lots of those recipes and it has been a good resource.

Good Cooking is another oldie that I've flipped through this week. I got this one as a young girl and it is also a good resource. I think I was in about tenth grade when I got this one as a prize through some 4-H contest. There is nothing really fancy in this one but loads of good food came about as a result of folks having it. I know for sure I used it lots.

- What I'm Loving -

I don't know if it is the birthday week or the flipping through old cookbooks or the fact that Mike and I have had family members exhibiting livestock at the North American International Livestock Expo last week and this week. At any rate, there has been lots of nostalgia shared around here this week. We've both shared old tales and experiences from our youth, including that of showing our own livestock. 

NAILE

We were excited when one of the nephews and his family won big time at the NAILE. He nor I never won on the big stage like that and Mike asked, "What do you do with your animal after it wins a Supreme Champion award like that?" So, we came up with lots of ideas about how the cow who won might be treated differently and wondered if she will just be turned back into the back lot when they get home with her.

- What I'm Working On -

I think I have shared before that Mike is the manager of the Cemetery in the heart of our town. His grandfather was one of the founders and Mike's Pop managed it when he was alive. So, Mike has now inherited the duties of selling burial lots, keeping things tidied up, and such. He enjoys meeting and supporting the people who come to him to purchase lots and is grateful to have the opportunity to comfort some of them in their time of grief. I am his secretary. We inherited lots of information and some of it was organized well. Some of it, though, is a bit of a jumble. So, Mike and I have been trying to sort it out.

I have been trying to create spreadsheets of lot owners and update names of people who have been buried and the location of their graves. At times it is overwhelming. So, I guess w are in it for the long haul. I have several spreadsheets at this point. So, when Mike gets a call, I can search through in a couple or three different places and we can locate most of the the answers to people's questions. It is an ongoing process, though, and I'm not sure it is one that will ever be perfectly accurate and easy to navigate!

I hope your week has been one where your sorting and poking and reminiscing has been heartwarming and that you have a rejuvenating and restful time in the weekend ahead. 

A Budding Photographer

Last week at the State Sheep Expo, little sister was not old enough to take part in the show ring. She is a second grader and sheep showers at Expo must be at least fourth graders. So, she spent her time pursuing other endeavors.

One thing she did on the afternoon of day three was find a place to just veg out in screen time.

That's her in the center of a bank of bleacher seats all alone.

Her brother, Harris, even commented once, when we were looking for her that he always started by looking for somebody sitting all alone somewhere doing their own thing!

And there she is!

Another thing she spent a little time doing is practicing her budding photographer skills. On the first morning of shows, she and I made our way to the show ring and climbed up into the bleachers. We perched on the lowest row, nearest to the ring where big brother would be showing his lambs. I noticed that she was busy with her mother's cell phone camera.

Getting a shot of Harris and Kimmy

A little while later, her mother, Jessica, let me know that she had also been taking photos and videos of a friend. Jessica said that her friend, Kelly, thanked her for sending the photos of her children showing their lambs. Jessica responded with a bit of confusion. Kelly mentioned that there was a bit of blur with some of them. It dawned on Jessica who had the phone/camera and laughed as she told her friend, Kelly, where the photos were actually coming from. Kelly's response, was, "Aw! Wasn't that sweet of her!?!" Then, the blur didn't seem to matter.

Linley would point the camera and watch for a moment or two. Then, she would ease back and analyze her capture, add a couple of filters, revert to the original, and try something different. 

Then, the process would begin all over again. She was quite serious about this endeavor and showed me a couple of her shots and how she zoomed in and out.

All I know about it was that this seemed to be a serious situation and kept her very engaged with intensity for quite a while. 

Someday we might see this budding photographer's work on a website, the front page of a publication, or enlarged and hanging on a wall somewhere. 

I could be a little biased, of course.

Today I noticed...Some mornings it takes a lot to cover everybody's needs.

At the end of last week I took a little trip to spend some time with my son and his family and to watch our eldest grandson exhibit his 4-H sheep in the State Expo. Families tend to sort of set up camp at functions like that where they are going to be exhibiting or showing their livestock several days in a row. 

My family had a couple of sheep stands, a tool box, a couple of coolers for sheep needs and a cooler for people needs, a couple of clipper cases, a couple of cushioned mats, a large bag with snacks, a table to set items on to be within quick reach, multiple buckets, and a few chairs. 

Within the people cooler were the basics - bottled water and athletic-type energy drinks to wash down the chips, snack cakes, granola bars, and such. Of course, we would supplement these 'healthy' drinks with iced tea or soft drinks when we picked up a bag of burgers or chicken pieces to serve as a meal. 

As I was walking to the show ring one morning, I noticed that another family must have done some supplementing to their cooler as well. It made me pause and wonder. I'd be willing to bet that the fresh cold snap to the temperatures, coupled with all the hard work of prepping and showing the sheep and temporarily living away from home might have made their morning a little bit tougher, which required a little extra supplementing.

I know that some mornings are tougher than others and it looks like this might have been one of those mornings for these folks.

Heirloom Silver

One of the things Mom gave me recently was a pile of silver pieces that we had won as awards back in the days when we were exhibiting cattle at fairs and shows.  I think all of it is silver-plate and all of it was badly tarnished.  I hated to see it go to Goodwill or somewhere like that but I also hated the thought of polishing all of it and had no idea where I would store it especially since we were consolidating or getting rid of all the things in the basement to make room for Mike's mother to move in.

For a while it sat in a stack on an extra chair and I simply ignored it.  Then, I set it down inside the flour/corn meal bin to get it out of sight.  Then, one day back in the summer I ran across a post by Ann Drake at the blog On Sutton Place.  She made cleaning silver seem more approachable than it had been years ago when Mom would have us use an old T-shirt, stinky silver polish, and lots of rubbing and scrubbing so that the pieces could be used for a friend's bridal shower or wedding reception.  So, I decided to give her How to Clean Silver Naturally method a try.

I am a believer in Ann's method!  Oh, there was still a good bit of rubbing and polishing required but I think maybe that was because the pieces were so tarnished.  All of them had so much tarnish that they had a black look to them like the bowls stacked above.  I know that tarnished silver as decoration is quite trendy right now, but, like Ann, I really like the shine of the silver when it is cleaned up.  In the center of each tray and on the side of each bowl is engraved something like Champion and the year - most of them are from the 1980s.

As you can see, they all cleaned up pretty well!  I took just a couple of pieces at a time and placed them in the hot water, baking soda, salt, aluminum foil solution and let them soak for about ten minutes.  Some pieces got soaked twice.  Then, I took a little toothpaste and worked on the places where tarnish was still clinging.  A quick rinse with hot water, dry with a soft towel, and I set them on the table to dry - and easily admire.

 The clean pieces sat on the table for a couple of days while I tried to think of where to store them.  I decided that I wanted to try to put as much of it to use as possible.  I don't mind using the trays to corral things or draw attention to a collection since I think it will be fairly easy to clean now.

One tray went to the guest bath as seen above to corral a wax scent burner/night light, a mug for the grands' toothbrushes, a crock with lavender sugar scrub, lotion, and a candle.  Later, I thought the size of it would be better for another little collection and was replaced by an oval one that can be seen in the corner of this photo.  (You can also see how I added a little bit of fall to the guest bath with that ceramic pumpkin.)

The smaller round one went into the front guest bedroom to corral my childhood blue and white tea set - or what is left of it.

One tray went to the den to corral a trio of items on the ottoman/coffee table.  I did a bit of a switcheroo and used a little larger tray later.

The larger tray fit well on the ottoman/coffee table.  So, I had to do a bit of thinking to decide what to do with the one that was here.  It was a bit older and was awarded for a different reason than having a fine cow.

That tray is one that I won as a showmanship award the year I graduated high school.  I teased my daughter-in-law that I was going to give it to her for Christmas along with my high school drape portrait.  Instead, the tray got moved to the kitchen.  I put a command hook on the back to loop a burlap ribbon through and hung it on the front of the china cabinet.  The bay leaf wreath that was hanging there had started to look faded and tired because it was so dry.  I liked the look of the greenery hanging there.  So, I moved a preserved boxwood wreath there but it just lacked substance.  Rather than going out and buying a larger preserved boxwood wreath, I think the silver tray added the bulk that was needed.  Plus, it added a bit of sparkle to the front of the cabinet.  I simply wrapped a piece of twine around the boxwood wreath and hung it down in front of the tray.

Some of the other trays are scattered around the house and used to group a few items together and a little narrow one sits on the base of the china cabinet and holds a twig pumpkin right now.  The juxtaposition of the shiny silver and the rustic natural twig pumpkin looks nice.

If you look closely into the china cabinet, you can see that I have four of the smaller trays propped up in the four corners of the cabinet behind a china plate.  The little bowls are stacked inside the cabinet as well because I couldn't think of a purposeful way to use them right now.  At some point, maybe I will, though and knowing that they are pretty easy to clean makes me not be concerned about them just adding a little sparkle to the kitchen.

It makes me smile a little bit that I could come up with a practical use for something like a silver tray award.  So, my 'heirloom silver' that was awarded to us for having outstanding cattle once again has a part in our life.  And maybe when the time comes for the grands to honor their friends with bridal showers or use at wedding receptions, we can easily clean it up and make it purposeful as well as sparkly and pretty!

Beautiful Snowy Sight

Our daughter-in-law, Bonnie sent this photo of one of their Angus heifers that she snapped last week.  Since I got to stay inside and didn't have to venture out to be the caretaker of livestock for once, I thought this was a beautiful sight.  Thanks for sharing, Bonnie!

The Boys

On the first snow day we had earlier in the week, Mike and I went out errand-running and stopped in over at Mom and Daddy's to check on them and their boys.

They came up to say hello.  So, we gave them some grain and a good looking over.

I thought it was ratherr funny that this nosey guy kept trying to watch me and eat at the same time.

He would turn his head sideways and stick his tongue out to rake in some of the pelleted grain.

I kept missing the tongue and finally, it was like he knew what I was trying to do and he gave me this look:

"Here.  You want to see my tongue?"

Fixin' Fence

We've had a couple of weeks with rough winds.  This made for some downed limbs.  This made for some need of fence repairs.  My dad hasn't been as full of vim and vinegar lately as we have enjoyed in the past, so we assembled a Saturday Fence Fixin' team yesterday.

My brother-in-law, Dwayne, neices, Megan and Madalyn, and Megan's fiancee, Adam trekked the hour drive and got a jump on the fence fixin'.  Mike and I gathered up some extra supplies and made our 20 minute trek to the farm.  Bryan and his family had come for a visit.  So, Bryan joined us a bit later.

Once the team was assembled, we made a collaborative effort to get as much done as possible using the daylight hours.  Dwayne made quick work of some downed trees by cutting them up to get them off the fence.  Megan, Adam, and Madalyn stacked most of the cut pieces in the back of Mike's truck.  Mike began gathering up the broken and rusted pieces of barbed wire.  I picked up the loose branches and made a brush pile.  Even though the temperature was a bit on the cool side, I think we all worked up a sweat.  We were so busy that there were very few photos made.

Here is a shot of most of the crew in action with Mamaw checking us out.

Dwayne, Adam, Megan, and Madalyn had one little calf-lot shored up when Mike and I made the scene.  We simply moved down the fence securing it. If there was broken, rusty, dangling wire, we took it up.

Madalyn and Dwayne securing some strands of wire to a T-post.

Bryan joined us, wearing some of Papaw's coveralls.  Then, he and Adam became the primary post drivers.

Adam and Bryan teaming up.

Madalyn and Dwayne teaming up.

Turns were taken to attach the clips securing the barbed wire strands to the posts.  Sometimes an established tree served as a post and the wire was secured with steeples.

Bryan swinging a hammer.

Adam swinging a hammer.

We would work as teams stretching wire from one tree to another and securing it.

The guys would drive a couple of posts to provide more stability.

We would add clips and steeples to attach the wire to the posts and trees.

Mike would shift a bucket from tree to post and camp out a minute or two to add clips.  The crew in the photo above shows Madalyn with the can of steeples and fence clips she sorted and made ready to hand to her Uncle Mike to make the process move along smoothly.  Megan was headed to the truck for another metal T-post.

Dwayne heads for the green bucket.

The green bucket served as the anchor for each section of work.  It held the stretcher, steeples, clips, pliers, etc.  We kept the spool of wire for patching nearby and the water jug with cups was stationed there as well.  As we moved down the fence, these all-important items moved along with us.

When we were about 2/3 the way through the project, Mamaw, Lillie, Lydia, Jessica, Harris, and his puppy came to check on our progress.  The photo above shows our crew working along the fence-line in full force.

Harris and Lydia

These little fellows brought a ray of sunshine and a smile to all our faces!  They thought they were big stuff in the bed of Papaw's pickup truck, too.

Harris noticed that we all had gloves on and thought he needed some, too.  An extra pair of gloves were slipped on him like a pair of mittens and his little paws were a wee bit warmer.

After a few minutes of inspection, they headed off to run an errand.

Lillie and Lydia feeling like big stuff riding through the pasture in the bed of the truck.

Mike inspecting a couple of strands of wire to decide  if we needed to add or replace some.

Looks like an important conference going on there on the right!

At one point, Adam mentioned that Ford Motor Company would be proud and should be there filming a commercial.  There were these three trucks and then, Papaw's was on the other side of the camera.

This one was piled with extra fence posts, bits of wire, cut wood, and more.

Our work seemed to pass inspection and I feel sure that what we got done was an improvement and will hold calves in the different pastures...at least till the next heavy wind blows through.