Knolltop Farm Wife

We are finally done with the fair. Not that I'm glad to see it end, but my body is glad. We brought the cows home last evening and then went out and got all the tack this morning. We didn't get there in time for the boys to pick up their trophies from the trophy case. I'll have to go get those in the morning. Yesterday was the large animal livestock sale, dairy judging and the super showmanship contest. JW and Sarah did dairy judging and JW was determined to win. And he did. I was glad because I knew he would be very disappointed if he didn't win at his county fair after spending half the summer and part of the fall traveling the midwest with the state judging team. Sarah was 6th, which is very good for her...she is absolutely clueless on how to judge a cow or give reasons. I need to give her a little lesson on this I guess. One of my favorite 4-H members, Matt Mann won the super showmanship contest. I was so glad, although the kid had won four out of the eigh...

After a week of having the kids do all the work this morning I'm flying solo as I head out to the fair and do the chores. It will be a quiet day there, no shows, no kids, nothing but sitting and visiting with all my girlfriends about the controversies, events and fun we've had all week. Thanks to all of you who've made comments and sent emails about our fun yesterday. And Julie, I sure wish your dad was her to see our supreme champion. Never in a million years would George Robb ever expect that Melissa Peckens would ever had a supreme champion Holstein! Gotta get!

We had our open show today at the fair. This was a little bigger show than the 4-H show and I always enjoy it because it has some really great herds from the county represented. Today was a very good day for us. Jake was second in his class, one better than on Tuesday, Luke was first in his class with Hollywood, one better than Tuesday and Sarah went down hill with her heifer and got fifth. Then in the cow classes, Luke won first with Holly. I was happy with Holly winning her class, that was really all I wanted out of the day....but Holly wasn't finished yet. She went on to be Senior Champion, Grand Champion, Best Udder in the show and then to top it all off she was Supreme Champion of all the breeds. That was very overwhelming for me...we were thrilled to say he least. Luke had a great day and here he is collecting the coveted Supreme Champion Trophy

Good Morning from the Knolltop. Yes, I know, I know, I promised you I would try to get on and post our fair results...but if you've ever been involved with exhibiting animals at any fair you realize that you can't get away from the fair as quick as you plan to. When you get done sweeping or feeding, then someone comes by that you haven't seen in a while and you talk. Then you shout some orders to your kids and think you're going to leave in a few minutes...you get side tracked again...finally you get your bag on your shoulder of all your dirty laundry and then someone else comes by...the bag gets heavy, you put it down and an hour later,you're still at the fair! Yesterday was the kids show day and they had a good one. Jake was last in showmanship...he spends too much tim e talking to his heifer and trying to get her to set up...she's more like a dog than a heifer. Yes, he had his hat on half way through the ring...but just after I took this picture he took it o...

It's Monday morning and I'm feeling the effects of having another driver in the family. My four children are at the fair...without me....and I'm at home catching up. WOW is this nice! They all got up this morning and were headed to the fair at 4:45 am. Remember...this is the first day....they all popped right up without any difficulty. They called at 7 and said all the chores were done and they were eating breakfast. This is the life! Another surprise was the arrival of the Southern Belles from Georgia! They said they were going to try to come, but I just figured they wouldn't be able to get on the plane so I didn't think about it again until we came home yesterday afternoon and Bobby said, my mother and Joann are going to be here any minute! You know what that meant....I stood in the middle of the house and called the troops to attention. I gave everyone their marching orders and by the time they arrived, the house was clean and smelling great...candles are ...

Well, it's a beautiful Saturday before the fair morning. At present...Sarah's brownies are baking, the last batch of salsa is processing, Luke is clipping and Jake is laying flat out on the living room floor because the neighbor's combine just went by and he can't go! Last night the kids got all the cows washed and this morning after they clip them, we will head to the fair with a load of tack and make a last minute stop at the store for fairweek snacks. The laundry is done, but the whites aren't found. All my stories have been written except one that I have to finish up by Monday....just waiting on some information. At the moment, I'm feeling pretty sane, but I know this is just the calm before the storm...so from this point on...if you don't see any new posts...pray for me! No, really, I'll try to post to keep fair progress updated. And for Pat who wanted to know about school and a county fair at this time of year....all the schools in the county h...

It's foggy this morning on the Knolltop. Good Morning! It's another day of getting ready for the fair. I've gotten myself into a painting job simply because I want to have a nice display for our kids at the fair. I was going to go the easy route, but as I thought about it, I figured the our cattle deserve a nice display around them. There's nothing better than seeing nice cows and a clean sharp display. So....after I write two more stories...I'm off to find some old brushes and I will be covered in red paint by the time I get done. I wrote my column on the meeting that I went to on rBST. Since those of you in far away lands don't get the Farmers' Advance, I will put my column here. Well, breakfast awaits! And so does the laundry :( My Column: So what’s next? Last week, I attended an interesting meeting about the use of rBST in dairy cattle. It seems the increase in consumer demand for milk from cows not injected with rBST is o...