State Fair

After doing so well at county fair, Grace had the opportunity to go to State Fair.  We loaded up everybody and the rabbits in the car, it was a tight squeeze, but we made it.  It was a long, hot day, but at the end of it Grace won Reserve Champion Junior 4H Showmanship.  The kid just blows me out of the water, you can't believe how proud I am of her.  She won a ribbon and a plaque. 

With all her ribbons, I think there were 5 between county and state, it makes my 2 look measly.  But I'm gonna show off my knitting anyway!

 These are the "glamour" shots as the fair pictures were horrible.

County Fair

Blame it on lack of motivation, a feeling of “who really wants to read about all the details in my life” or morning sickness or whatever for not writing a post in so long.  But I am so proud of my girl I have to shout about it over the internet.

County Fair is this week and rabbit shows were yesterday and today.  Grace has done so well.  So won Champion 4-H Junior Rabbit Showmanship, Champion and Reserve Single Fryer and Reserve Champion Meat Pen.

The meat pen and fryers are all up to the rabbit and how well they look, etc.  Showmanship is all about the kid and how well they know their rabbit.  We wrote the intro together and she’d practiced several times, fooled with her rabbit a lot, but I admit, I was worried.  I was afraid she’d forget the intro we practiced, get panicked and run away with tears in her eyes.  But she was confident and did so well.  The judge even said she answered questions about her rabbit that older kids didn’t know, like fur type and varieties of the breed.

You can't believe how proud I am of this kiddo!

On a side note, I won superior ribbons for both of the handknits I entered!

The First Rabbit Show

Grace entered 3 of her 4 rabbits in a Rabbit Show in Laramie on Sunday.  Of course, the weather was snowing and nasty over the summit, typical spring in the Rockies.  We all went to see what it was about.  This was pretty low key, not too many people, only 4H kid, type of meet.  Perfect for her first one.   One of her Californians would have gotten Best of Breed has it not had a discoloring of the fur due to laying on the metal wire of the cage.  The discoloration, called smut, should be gone with the next molt the rabbit goes through…however, we’re thinking of getting something to put on the floor so this doesn’t happen again.  The Dutch doe won Best of Breed, out of 5 other Dutch rabbits.  She got a glass cup for her prize. 

Waiting for judging to begin 

The judge checking out one of her Californians 

The judge examining Charlotte, her Dutch

With her prize cup that says BOB for Best of Breed

They also had a bunch of items they were raffling off.  Had this one girl’s name not been drawn twice for the bunnies on the raffle table, Grace’s name would not have been drawn for the mini lop bunny.  So we came home with another bunny.  We named him Jonny and he’s about 2 months old.  He’s probably gonna be more of a pet since we’ll be able to do a lot of fooling with it as a baby.  Although I’m sure he’ll be entered in shows and the fair as well.

To add a little more excitement, we found out that the interstate back to Cheyenne was closed a bit after we drove on it…and was still closed when the show was over.  We took the scenic route back home via Ft. Collins.

Chicken Update

I think we all need to see the chickens now that they've grown up and grown some feathers.  Check out this post to see them a few days after hatching.

Kinda hard to see since we had to put up netting because our guineas are attempting to fly, yet they are not feathered out enough to go outside.  They're still hanging out in the basement for now.

My Glasses

Lizzy has never been fond of her kennel, so we put her in our room and shut the door at night.  Never a mishap besides a bare patch or two of carpet from excessive licking.  One morning I couldn’t find my glasses on the nightstand….or on the floor thinking they’d been knocked off.  I found them across the room, minus the lenses, in a tangled mess of plastic.  The lenses were found later with scratches not due to ordinary wear, if you know what I mean.  After several expletives and “We’re getting rid of you, dog”, I calmed down and found my backup pair.  I must mention I am not fond of my backup frames and the lenses are not quite the right prescription.  Now I have a new pair with some bling!  And now she gets locked in her kennel at night.  You literately have to carry her to the door, but she will walk in.  And the whining now is only when she has to go out….not all night long.   

Dogs, Dogs, Dogs, and Another Dog

I’m a sucker for dogs, always have been.  We haven’t been looking for another dog, but there was a poster on the bulletin board at work.  Free dog.  I called the guy up and we looked at him.  And I’m a sucker for dogs, did I say that already?  He’s almost 2, black as night, full of energy and we renamed him Oscar.  Unfortunately for him, he’s going to get neutered in about a week.  So far him and Lizzy are getting along smashingly.  I’m sure she’s glad to have a fellow dog who doesn’t bite any higher than ankles to play with!

We don’t want him in the house yet for fear of him marking everything!  So the big dogs are sleeping outside and I never thought I’d say this, but I miss Lizzy inside at night.  Even if she did eat my glasses.  Which I have yet to tell that story….

More Rabbits

Just recently we got Charlotte, Grace’s 4H show rabbit.   We also decided to get 3 Californian rabbits and she can also take a meat pen to fair.  We plan on breeding the rabbits (we got a buck and 2 does) in a few weeks, then the offspring will be just the right age to sell for meat at the fair.  Grace has named them Junior, Looloo and Molly.  Rabbits were taking up a big hunk of the basement so Jeremy and Grace converted a shed into a “rabbitry.”  Grace feeds and waters them in the morning and night.  She also brings Charlotte in the house to fool with.  She was having problems turning her rabbit over, but she’s got that skill mastered now.  However, I fear, the newness may be starting to wear off.

Grace helping to build the cages

In the rabbitry

More cage building

The rabbitry

On of the Californian rabbits

Another Californian chillin' in her cage

Charlotte all stretched out

Charlotte the Rabbit

A friend of mine asked me to donate a quilt to an auction to raise money for a man he knows who is battling cancer.  I, of course, said I definitely would do so.  I hadn't made a quilt in a while and I'd forgotten how much I enjoying doing so.

Grace recently joined 4H and decided she would like to do her project on rabbits.  We found a gal who was selling rabbits for 4H projects and we bought this Dutch rabbit.  Grace named her Charlotte.  She is currently in a cage in Grace's room.  The plan is to show her at county fair this summer.  So far she seems like a very well behaved rabbit.  I swear she's stuffed when we take her out of the cage, as she barely moves!

An Awesome Chance

Remember last summer when I was fortunate enough to go see the Yarn Harlot talk?  I was reading her blog and found out she was headed to Denver along her book signing route.  I quick look at Jeremy's schedule and he was off that day.  Instead of having him go with me, he was assigned baby sitting detail and me and a fellow knitter planned to go see her.  It was on a Monday evening, so we spent the night.

This is a picture from her blog.  See, there I am right under the arrow in the second row!  On my left is Heidi, my fellow knitta!  We got to the bookstore several hours before the event, so we be able to be near the front.  We were 12th and 13th in line.  She told a story about dentists in the Dominican Republic that had me laughing so hard there were tears rolling down my cheeks.

While waiting in line, we were able to have a marathon knit session.  Without it, these socks wouldn't have been done nearly as quickly.

And guess what socks I'm wearing to work today!  Yep, these babies.

You Know Spring is Coming When...

....a few of these take up residence in your basement.

We bought 15 chickens of various breeds and 5 guineas.  We have already had one not make it.  The girls are enjoying the little chicks.

Sundogs and Some Knittin'

The other morning I looked out to see these bright sundogs on display.  Check that out!

I've been teaching my friend at work how to knit.  After she tried out her skills making a dishcloth, she decided on a hat for her nephew.  I decided to make one as well...for myself.  I had my young assistant model it for me, lol!

It looks way cuter on her than me!

And this is the fastest pair of socks I've ever knit.  I think it's only because I happened to have some days where I could just sit and knit, like Christmas day and New Year's day.  Or maybe it's the fancy-schmancy knitting needles Jeremy got me for Christmas.  Either way, I knit these bad boys in about a week and a half where it usually takes me 3-4 weeks.