WHEW!!! I Survived and I'm Back!!!

Well it is hard to believe that it's been a week since I sat down and had time to read everything I have missed and tell you all what we've been up to!! So last week was our annual county fair, and boy was it fun!!! I also might add very long and tiring LOL!! Last Monday night our 4H club was assigned "before fair clean-up" and then Tuesday was the day to haul in the pigs... Last year when it came time for weigh in we had a heck of a time!! Actually we just had a heck of a year with the pigs, we had 1 show pig die and 2 other's become very ill so by the time we made it for weigh in we were just burnt!! The guidelines for swine were; your pig has to weigh at least 220 lbs. and can't be more than 300 lbs. last year when we went for weigh in due to them being sick (they had acquired like a dust pneumonia from being in an area never touched by animals) one of the pigs did not make weight...And of course it was our best one, but J still got to show him in the light weight class and placed like 5th place with him.. So this year they changed up the rules a bit, and they now are; your pig must weigh in at least 220 lbs or you have to take them home!! That's right NO more light weight classes...We had some people that were taking advantage of the light weight classes and bringing young pigs...Literally...So because of that they changed the rules and then the other thing was the top weight limit is still 300 lbs but if your pig weighs over that then you would not get paid for any lbs over 300, if you floored it.

So this year the kids decided that they were both showing a pig. So J decided to go with a Hamp and DD went with a Duroc, then we bought a York that was a runt and we thought she would make weight as she gained weight really fast and shot right up in size!! But when we weighed her in she was at 199 lbs, so we took her home.. J calls his pig Kitty LOL, and she weighed in at 298 lbs!!! WHOO-HOO he got lucky!! And DD calls her pig Cookie Dough and she weighed in at 268 lbs!! We were so excited, not that we were worried about them because we had virtually no problems with them this year!! OH what a great year!!

J's Hamp and the other Hamp is a littermate to his!!



DD and her Duroc



So Thursday was the Swine show, the kids and Hubby went in extra early about 6:30 am to start washing the pigs and getting them ready.. The Hubby was nice and let me sleep in a little because I had to stay up later than everyone doing laundry LOL!! So I got there about 7:45 am and the show started promptly at 8:00!!

DD showing Cookie Dough



J showing Kitty



I can't even tell you how many pigs there were, in DD's class alone they had to divide it into 4 weight classes as there were so many!! Right now I can't even remember who showed first LOL!! I don't think I have fully recovered yet... But in the end J got 2nd 1st Blue on his Hamp!!! We were so excited!!! Unfortunately he did not get Reserve or Champion when they brought all of the 1st and 2nds out but we were still happy with that 2nd place!! Then DD brought her Duroc out and she did just as well!! She too placed 2nd 1st Blue LOL!!! I was so excited for her!! After she showed she came up and was already stripping off the show clothes and I was like "DD, did you place 2nd"? She says "yeah", so I told her "you have to show again then, because now you will compete for Reserve and Champion" she gets all huffy and says "UHH I don't feel like showing again"!!! Remember the part where I said she was there very early....Bad idea LOL!! So she throws her shirt on and then proceeds to storm off and as she goes we all feel the bleachers jerk and then my SIL jumps off the back and I see her grab DD who is holding her hands up to her eye and holding her breath!! So I jump down and we are screaming at her to breath and she is jumping up and down mouthing "I can't" and it can get a little hairy when she does this because if she holds her breath for to long she will pass out. Was a pretty frequent thing when she was younger. So I can tell that she is getting ready to pass out and I start shaking her and blowing in her face and finally she gasped!! OH BOY, this girl can scare the crap out of me.. Well apparently when she stormed off she wasn't looking very good and caught the corner of her eye on the corner of the bench...OUCH!!! So I rush over and ask "can her brother show for her as she just hurt herself" and they said yes of course. So then the guy from our extension office runs over to see if she's OK, and I tell her "it's OK D they said bubby can show your pig for you" and she stands up (still crying mind you) and says "UH NO, I can show my own pig"!! WHAT?!?! You little stinker!! So then the B the extension guy looks at me and says "That's one heck of a Cowgirl you got there" I just smiled and said thanks! Really wanting to say "HA she did this to herself whining cause she DIDN'T want to show"!! So my friend had gotten her some ice as she was heading back into the ring and they didn't even let her get 1 step in the show ring before they boxed her and she was out LOL!! I was like well that sucks!! I'm not sure why they did that but none the less she did not place Reserve or Champion either... But that's OK because she still did place high with against all of the other pigs!!

DD's eye when I tucked her in for bed...



What's the Sash for you ask?!?! I'll tell you tomorrow!!