It was pouring rain when we arrived Saturday morning. Finally it stopped and we set up camp. Maddy is tying up Tabu. There are only three girls riding today, so camp is small. I’m surprised steam isn’t coming off the ground. It is going to be a hot one.

Ali is bringing out Cowboy.

So I really don’t know what happened to me from this point on. I hardly took any still photos of the fair. I was carrying a video camera and perhaps that just threw me. Chuck and I also went to see the Dalai Lama in the middle of it all and I wasn’t allow to bring a camera. Again, I just don’t know. I must have put the camera down and forgot to pick it up again.

I know what you’re all saying…who cares about the weather back on the 18th. This is just a mental reminder that it was really hot at the Dane County Fair.

Today I filled my volunteer hours as project protector. It was my job to make sure no one was touching or drawing on the 4 H projects. Or I guess stealing a piece of pie and eating it. I walked around and took a few photos. I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves. That way I can try and get caught up on this blog. I took this photo so we could all learn something. :-).

Here’s Alex who entered a fat hamster into the fair. He had several other entries as well. Good job Alex.

There is so much more than what I pictured here. My advice is to take advantage of your 4H fairs and visit yourself. Lots to do and see.

I’m really  not ignoring the blog. I’m having some technical issues with loading pictures onto the site. As soon as I can, I will update asap.

Have a great day!

Lori

This is going to be a hot week/weekend. We’re expecting isolated thunderstorms every day, but so far no rain. If you’re wondering what that brown stuff is at the bottom of the thermometer — earwigs. Yuck!

Today’s fair event was trail. Only a few girls went and I’m sorry to say I have no pictures, but the judge was brutal and no one did very well. Here’s the truck parked in our yard, waiting for the next load to the fair.

Duke already hot in this humid weather.

The Dane County Fair begins today. It will be five days of horse competitions and tired kids and parents. The morning is a hot one and the day is expected to be in the upper 80s.

But it is a beautiful morning with a nice line of fog.

And there are some pretty cool looking skies.

I just love these foggy mornings.

Later that day…we all made it to the fair grounds for tonight’s drill team performance.

Maddy is getting Monty ready. They are doing the Tango.

They all look quite spectacular. I’m sorry I don’t have a spectacular camera to give you a better photo. If any of you moms have a better picture, please send it to me.

Here’s Joe, showing off his ability to stand on one leg.

I found Jill this morning deep in thistle. The horses love to eat the purple flower tops.

If we could figure out a good use for this thistle, we’d be in business.

Because if there is one thing we have a lot of, it is thistle.

If you look closely, you can see a gate behind all of that.

If it weren’t so painful, it would be downright pretty.

I just goggled bull thistle and there doesn’t seem to be a lot of good things to say about it. If we figure out how to get rid of it, I’ll let you know.

Horse relationships are truly special. Somehow Ginger missed the opening of the gate and was thrown off by the fence line. Honest, it happens to all of them off and on. Eventually they back track and see the missed path. But when Ginger missed the gate, Tabu stood at the top of the hill and realized her dilemma. He decided to rescue her by coming back down the hill and showing her the way.

Once he came to the opening, she knew exactly what to do and went running off into the pasture without him. Sigh.

Did I mention that Tabu has a new girlfriend?

Sunday we spent at the Art Fair on the Square in Madison. Here’s Valerie, explaining something to us. I’m not sure what, but I am sure it was interesting.

The art fair is filled with wonderful art and fantastic things that would look wonderful in most households. Here Kathy and Val are looking at pottery.

Val has talked the whole gang into looking at some unique pottery.

Everywhere you look are amazing things. I took a lot of photos, but since this isn’t the Art Fair blog, I thought I’d just show a few.

Recycled art.

More recycled art. It was a big theme at the show this year. Gave me lots of ideas for stuff hanging out around the farm.

I tried to talk Kathy into buying this fish for her husband (my brother the fishing fanatic).

Every now and then I’m reminded as to how beautiful our state capitol is.

On to the dog show, although this furry carpet of dog does look a little like art.

Barb is giving Duke a pep talk, telling him how great he’ll be.

Maddy and Duke in their first event — showmanship.

Duke ended up with a second place in this event. He need to have his ears cleaned and his toes trimmed. There was also the problem of not wanting to set up for the judge. Oh well…he was cute.

Tori and Callie (sp?) in the showmanship ring.

Taylor and Patch’s turn to enter the ring.

Jamie, the ultimate mom, ready for everything.

Duke is taking a nap between events.

Duke and Maddy are ready for their obedience event. Duke is ready and willing.

Duke is really good at the “lay” command.

Actually, I think he’s being a bit of a show off. But it worked, he was a blue ribbon winner in this event.

Here’s Taylor and Patch in obedience.

I think Patch was happy to leave this event.

Tori is waiting for her “sit and stay” call back.

Here the winners are. It was a different type of day. In some ways very similar to horse showing (a lot of waiting) and in other ways very different (smaller animal, saddle optional). I’m not sure if the girls will do it again, but it was fun to try it once.

So all the storms and wet weather are bound to knock a few trees over. Here’s one that hit the poop pile.

Our neighbors are down hill from us, so they always get the worst of it. It doesn’t help that they are surrounded by a marsh either. But here is some of their pasture.

So my cousin Valerie came for the weekend and engaged in farm work with gusto. She helped me clean stalls, haul grain, feed horses, let out, bring in, ride, sweep and so on. It was great having her. Here we are on a pasture tour and she’s getting ready to meet the one creature people are always surprised to see out here.

Little Boy. Ha! He cracks me up.

I suppose I should let everyone know we’re feeding him a couple of carrots.

He’s content just being a shaggy haired llama.

I almost missed posting this. Val ended her farm experience riding Tabu.

The weather that followed the fog of yesterday was amazing. During the night we had thunderstorm after thunderstorm. There were times I wondered what would be left of this place when I went out in the morning. As you can see I went out later than usual, but it was still raining when my alarm went off. I decided to wait it out.

One of these days I’ll put audio on this site. But the sound of the horses running through the water to get up the hill was amazing. And if you don’t think your horses will run through water, you should have seen them. It was spectacular.

The rain was heavy, which left us with a few small ponds in the pasture. Sorry farmers.

But Duke is just having a blast running through the water.

What could be finer than a spa in your backyard.

Hmmm….anyone want to borrow a dog for a day?