Rural Chaos: So late

I know you've all been waiting to hear about the fair. I just haven't taken the time to sit down and spout it out. These past few weeks have certainly lived up to being "Rural Chaos."

With kids being sick, alternately, for 2 1/2 straight weeks and trying to finish the appeal transcript I was working on and an expedite order right on top of that - a fair in between all that - 3 trips to the doctor and a combined total of 15 days of school missed that makeup work had to be done for - and trying to switch gears and focus on the county fair - I've been in a bit of a whirlwind. Blogging has definitely not been the last thing on my mind - but I haven't found time to squeeze it in. But I think now I've caught my breath for the moment. I think I've caught up on reading all my favorite blogs - although I may not have left any comments because I had so much to catch up on! Sorry guys! But for those of you who have stuck around and are waiting for the updates - here goes nothing.

Dakota received a red ribbon in showmanship. Her hog was being a really big butt head the night of the showmanship show and would not come out of the corner. She tried several things, but he was not budging. I don't know what his problem was - other than he knew the way out of the ring and he was dead set on staying there. She got frustrated and a little nervous but she did well. She was very, very mad at him and probably would have sent him to the slaughterhouse right then and there had someone provided her the means to do it. But all is not lost. She did the best she could with what she had to work with - which that night was not much.

Our cousin William - well, he walked away with the Junior Showmanship title and a beautiful belt buckle to proclaim his accomplishments! That boy can show! He's amazing!

All gussied up - ready to show!

On Sunday, the day of the actual swine show where the hogs are judged in their respective weight classes, Dakota's hog placed 4th in his class, receiving a red ribbon (and, despite the hog not feeling well, acted like an angel which he should have done Saturday night) and William's hog placed 2nd in his class, receiving a blue ribbon. And William also won the Junior division Champion of Champions award for swine. This award is based on the scores from the Skil-A-Thon, record book test, and also factors in points for the ribbons won in both showmanship and weight class (and probably some other things I'm leaving out). At any rate, it's a high honor and a nice award. Great job, William!

Nathan and William also won several awards for their rabbits that they exhibited at the fair. If I remember correctly, they both won Best of Variety for their respective rabbits and Nathan also won Best of Breed and Best Opposite Sex Variety and Best Opposite Sex Breed for two of his rabbits. They both did a great job with rabbits this year, too!

So, Sunday we all said goodbye to "Mister" and "Houdini" (William's pig). I think the adults were a little more on the verge of emotion this year than the kids. It's always a bittersweet ending. But I love bacon, so it's not that hard to let them go knowing they'll produce some good meat we might eat one day soon!