Fair week

I vowed I wasn't going to complain about the weather on my blog this summer, but it may or may not have been the reasoned I climbed into a hole and disappeared last week. 

But the heat is lifting a wee bit just in time for our 4-H county fair to begin this week. 

You can tell my brain is full when I start pasting sheets of lists and schedules to the kitchen refrigerator. There are papers listing everyone's fair entries--cookies, paintings, photographs, cakes. A schedule for the week--what day we take animals in, when sheep get weighed, when we have volunteer duties, when the sheep show starts, and with plenty of room for more "to-dos" as they stack up. 

My kitchen is a massive explosion of fair picnic food, cookie-baking, show clothes and tonight's defrosting dinner.

 

The girls and I just came in from a sheep-washing-party and Emma and I attempted to slick-shear one of the lambs to get a head start on our work before the show. Turns out the blades are dull, so now I've got a list of people to call to find some way to get them sharpened or replaced in the next three days. 

The lambs' behavior is still less than impressive. I'm starting to wonder if this isn't a breed characteristic. Having worked with other breeds in the past, it took about a week of work to at least get them walking on a halter. This year, we're still tugging, dragging and tempting with grain to get them to walk with us. It could be an interesting year in the show ring. Paige puts up the biggest fight of all. And she also happens to be the tiniest of the crew. Emma and I decided, worst case scenario, we'd pick her up, plop her down in the showring, and then carry back out when it was over.

But in the midst of all this hard work and sweat and lists and lost tempers (usually mine, ugh.) is much fun and excitement. The kids are so motivated this year to get everything done on time--signs made for barn stalls, cookies baked ahead of time and photographs mounted and prepped. And I'm standing on the sidelines a little more this year, too. Watching with interest as they waffle between determination and distraction.

Also, can we pause for a moment to appreciate this photo that Elizabeth took for her entry in the fair. I'm totally in love with it. 

So, I may post a photo or two from the week, or I may disappear completely. We'll see. But cross your fingers, say a prayer or more appropriately count your lucky clovers that all goes smoothly for us this week? And most importantly that these lambs are suddenly overcome with a desire to walk perfectly on their little halters. 

More soon!!