Best Use of Wool!

Here is a super quick post from the Hookstown Fair to share this great wool hooking.  Be sure to read the border and note the real dog tags on the collar ..... double click on this picture to see the detail.

Quote Of The Night!

Are you impressed?   This market hog was the first place winner in his heavy weight class at the Hookstown Fair and then went on to be named Grand Champion Market Hog over the whole 4-H market hog show. 

When you watch animals being judged in livestock shows, the judge gives a set of "reasons" when he places the animals in winning order, 1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc.  Having taken a 3 credit class in livestock judging at Penn State, your blogger is always tuned in to the reasons.  From year to year, there are fads & changes in the phrasing of reasons and you'll hear certain comments repeated at different shows.  Examples include things like describing a hog as "a free-wheeling kinda hog" to praise structurally correct freely moving feet and legs.  Lambs are described as "tight- hided" when describing smoothness of skin over properly muscled shoulders, etc. 

Tonight a new quote in livestock reasons has dazzled Wild Rose Farm!  The judge described this hog, praising his structural correctness, freedom of movement, outstanding muscling, and uniformity of finish.  He just liked the "total package".  The quote of the evening was when he praised the young man showing this hog by saying that in comparison to the rest of the class, "He brought a gun to a knife fight"!  

Yowza!  We love that oratory!  Well, maybe it's just me, but here's another view of the star of the showring:

Hookstown Fair - Day 1

It was standing room only (2 deep) around the tent when the judging began for the 4-H market poultry classes.  Not sure how this got started, but when you show poultry, you get to wear a long white coat.  Here is the judge examining a 4-H'ers bird in the Senior Showmanship division.  These chickens were all given baths earlier today .... now that would have been interesting to watch.  A lot of care must be taken when you're grooming a chicken! 

Later we were off to the 4-H market lamb barn where we're proud to show off some of the best dressed lambs in Beaver County.  The spandex tubes help keep the lambs clean and keep their skin smooth and tight to their body.  These tubes used to be rather boring, but now the kids are having some fun with the colors.  Aren't you glad that you tuned in to the blog to see the unique Wild Rose Farm view of the fair?  We teach you things that you'd never learn anywhere else!  

LOVE THE COLOR COORDINATED WATER BUCKET ..... !

The lamb in the background shows off a tube with bling .... see the sparkles?

Hookstown Fair Starts Tomorrow!

The Hookstown Fair starts tomorrow and you know that we have our season passes! 
We show the fleeces, not the sheep.  Sunday was spent skirting & tying up our fleeces for the wool show.  We dropped them off with all of the other show fleeces and on the way home, we spotted this poster in the corner store window.
See you at the fair!

The Mystery Continues .....

Another August and another Hoopiefest arrives in the 'hood.   This time, Wild Rose Farm followed the arrow hoping to spot the venue. 

No such luck!  Evidently, this is by invitation only and the sign is just enough to get the guests on the right track ...... The sign this year is an upgrade over last summer  so this is probably becoming an annual event.  Again, the location will remain unnamed to protect the innocent .....

Our Newest Helper

We have a new little helper on the retaining wall  ..... our biggest chore is making sure that he doesn't get pancaked into the project.  He is proudly showing off the muddy pinecone that he found while he was digging ....... and yes, that is a pinecone! 

Hot & Boring .....

Just a few words to let everyone know that not much is going on at Wild Rose Farm right now.  This picture says it all ..... hot & hazy.  The sheep are out in the runway while a new round bale of hay is being placed in the feeder for them.  We just had our front spring water development refurbished ..... This is the stock water tank that many of you got to see when you visited the farm on the PASA Summer Farm Tour.  The old tank was not in good shape, so we replaced it and redirected the outflow down over the hill to a second tank.  Now we have 2 tanks and we will be able to run an interior fence line between the tanks to subdivide the pasture.  Aside from moving more of our barn stone collection up to the driveway for the retaining wall project (which our visitors also had to dodge on the way out of the tour!), that's about it for the dog days of summer.  The sheep are just hanging out trying to keep cool and Claire is standing in the sun as usual, even though she could be in the shade!