So, as it happens on occasion, I was once again in charge of chores on the farm. Once again, the chores required a "come and see" versus a list of what to do. It makes life much easier to see where the second pen of goats are versus trying to determine which pen of six is referred to as "the second pen."
While there were no major calamities to speak of and no strenuous work outs to be had (as it was not 10 below zero, there were no rickety ladders that required climbing and no hay bales needed toted across the road) it was still a learning experience.
I (or I should say we as my half hindered hubby came to help) arrived at the farm (aka Little Missouri according to my older brother--who of course, was in Vegas an unable to chore) and hubs hopped on the tractor to retrieve a big bale of hay while I tended to the goats, chickens, rabbits, cats, overweight Corgi and Chester the farm dog.
Upon entering the first pen of goats, I managed to see a flash of black and white out of the corner of my eye and hurried to shut the door before Chester could follow me in, as there is a rouge rabbit who escaped from his pen and has decided to "find his inner show goat" and live in the barn. There was really not much work to do here, as they are on a self feeder. So I gave Milkshakes the goat some love and refilled a water bucket.
I approached the second two pens of goats, albeit with reservation as the Cock of the Walk came strutting around the corner with a murderous gleam in his eye...damn you Ashley and your "free range" rooster. Thankfully, Chester was still in tow, and while the two peacefully coexist, they still stay out of each other's way, and the rooster headed the other way.
This is where feeding the goats gets interesting. If you've never been around goats, let me tell you a few things...1) When it comes to feeding time, goats will act like the giant Koi at the zoo when you happen to hock a loogie into the water. To the uninitiated, it can be frightening as it appears as though they will jump the fence and come at you in an effort to get a mouthful of grain. 2) Billy Goats make very strange noises...seriously its like meshing an alley cat getting raped by the neighborhood tom cat with an overly vocal pornstar and a little Janet Leigh from "Psycho" thrown in for good measure. Again, to the uninitiated, its terrifying.
After the goats were fed it was off to the chicken coop..a mere two steps from the goat pen. The rooster was still contemplating whether or not to give me a peck or two, but for the most part he just casually observed my movements, as if he were going to file his report with Andy and Ashley when they returned. All I had to do with the chickens was check the feed and water situation and gather the eggs. I got two explanations as to how I was to do this, as there are two old nesting hens who no longer lay, but nest on as many eggs as they can and they do not appreciate you taking their "babies." The first explanation as to how to accomplish the egg gathering was to, "just talk to them in a soothing voice. Let them know its okay and that you're just going to reach under here and grab the eggs and things will be just fine. Just keep talking to them. The more you communicate with them, the easier it will be." The second explanation I got was, "I throw my hat over their heads then just reach under and grab the eggs."
I'll let you guess whose explanation was whose and which route I chose. (Psstt...I wear a ball cap while choring for a reason.)
Now here's where the learning happened. I was unaware that there would be so many eggs to gather. I was relieved that I had a hat I could put them in as there was no graceful way to carry 20 eggs. By the time I was finished gathering and was starting to exit, four or five hens had found their way to my vicinity and were waiting by the door..crickets reside under the door and they were waiting for me to open it back up and pounce on a snack. As I opened the door, trying to keep the chickens in with one leg and the dog out with the other, my 20 eggs became 19. At this point I learned that chickens are cannibalistic little bastards. Those hens swarmed on that broken egg like the aforementioned Koi fish and lapped up every last drop of their coop mate's embryo. It was almost more frightening than the Billy Goat mating call.
Trying not to shudder, I left the chicken coop in search of an egg carton. While I didn't find one, I did find a box and more importantly, a beer. I checked the last two pens of goats and made sure rabbit number two was comfortable in his two story condo, before helping the hubby feed the calves and we called it a night.
Cannibalistic chickens, just another one of my many learning experiences we have in Blondie's Barnyard.
Wednesday, August 20, 2014
Monday, August 18, 2014
My super awesome
annual redneck happy day was yesterday...it was my day at the Iowa State Fair! Now, I should preface this by stating that usually, I get to spend more than just ONE day there, but the way the stars aligned and because of the hubs accident, I could only get ONE day.
The Iowa State Fair is like my holy land. My parents had their first date there. In fact, they celebrated that moment at this year's fair, riding Ye Olde Mill together, 50 years to the day from when they first rode it together. My parents camp there the entire 10 days, my kids exhibit there and my uncle serves on the State Fair Board, heck my five year old nephew even gets in on the action, showing in the open class goat show. It is OUR fair.
It irritates the crap out of me when people piss and moan about the cost of it. Yes, it does cost money, but no more than a day spent at the zoo, or the water park, or at the I-Cubs or any other venue. AND there are ways to spend less money and still enjoy your day.
We got on the grounds around 9:30. Parking would prove to be one of the more expensive things, as the yard we chose to park in charged $10. However, it was a big yard that was fenced in and only a block from the gate. We used tickets that were ordered, in advance, so we paid $16 to get in, instead of $22. We made our first purchase within seconds, buying a lemon shake up from the stand outside of the Swine building for $3. Its the best lemon shake up on the fairgrounds. And here's novel idea..we SHARED it. We did not each need our own lemonade.
We checked in at the goat show and watched the nephew show Miss Sweatpea and found out that Jaci would not show for several more hours, so off we went to explore the grounds. We found another lemonade stand with a refillable cup, so we spent $4 there, but refills were only $2, hence another way to save!
We saw the big boar, big bull and big ram, walked through the Avenue of Breeds and then decided it was time for lunch. The three of us SHARED a half rack of ribs, an order of the brisket bacon mac and cheese and a funnel cake. $22 and we were stuffed. I think a lot of the people who bitch about the food costs order that much PER PERSON. Fair food is meant to be sampled, savored and shared. We made a trip through the Varied Industries Building, the DNR building and looked through the various displays under the Grandstand before heading back to the livestock barns. We took the free tram ride, which stopped right by the Budweiser Clydesdales so we got a good look at them before hopping back on the tram and heading back to the goat show.
By this time it was time for a snack..a milkshake (from the Dairy Barn of course) and a slushy would tide the family over until after the goat show ended.
Miss Jaci got third place with Possum and was told she was an excellent showman, which made us proud. Claypot stood second with Hottie, and was in for the Championship Drive, but it was not Hottie's day. A good experience for both none the less.
Once the show clothes were exchanged for shorts and a tee, we went off to do more exploring. A quick trip through the Agriculture building for a jar of honey and a peek at the Butter Cow was in order. We found more cheap and good snacks there, as the Iowa Egg Council hands out FREE, yes I said FREE eggs on a stick..so the three of us got a $2 lemonade refill and each had a free egg! We then found the Salad Bowl, where we ordered PB&J on a stick for $2 and the Caprese Salad on a stick for $3. The PB&J was four mini sandwiches on a skewer with fresh strawberries and grapes in-between the sandwiches and the Caprese was cherry tomatoes, fresh mozzarella and basil layered on a skewer. It was a refreshing and healthy snack for $5 that again, we all shared.
We managed to walk through every building and every display, save the Cultural Center and Pioneer Hall. We bought two wedding gifts while on the grounds, and while we were walking towards the exit gate, happened to see one of the BBQ vendors selling bulk sliced, smoked roast beef. We got 3 pounds for $12. Hello lunch for the next few days...if that isn't a bargain banner day at the State Fair, I don't know what is!
I'm already counting down the days til next year's event and planning how many days I can go and how many foods on a stick we can share!
The Iowa State Fair is like my holy land. My parents had their first date there. In fact, they celebrated that moment at this year's fair, riding Ye Olde Mill together, 50 years to the day from when they first rode it together. My parents camp there the entire 10 days, my kids exhibit there and my uncle serves on the State Fair Board, heck my five year old nephew even gets in on the action, showing in the open class goat show. It is OUR fair.
It irritates the crap out of me when people piss and moan about the cost of it. Yes, it does cost money, but no more than a day spent at the zoo, or the water park, or at the I-Cubs or any other venue. AND there are ways to spend less money and still enjoy your day.
We got on the grounds around 9:30. Parking would prove to be one of the more expensive things, as the yard we chose to park in charged $10. However, it was a big yard that was fenced in and only a block from the gate. We used tickets that were ordered, in advance, so we paid $16 to get in, instead of $22. We made our first purchase within seconds, buying a lemon shake up from the stand outside of the Swine building for $3. Its the best lemon shake up on the fairgrounds. And here's novel idea..we SHARED it. We did not each need our own lemonade.
We checked in at the goat show and watched the nephew show Miss Sweatpea and found out that Jaci would not show for several more hours, so off we went to explore the grounds. We found another lemonade stand with a refillable cup, so we spent $4 there, but refills were only $2, hence another way to save!
We saw the big boar, big bull and big ram, walked through the Avenue of Breeds and then decided it was time for lunch. The three of us SHARED a half rack of ribs, an order of the brisket bacon mac and cheese and a funnel cake. $22 and we were stuffed. I think a lot of the people who bitch about the food costs order that much PER PERSON. Fair food is meant to be sampled, savored and shared. We made a trip through the Varied Industries Building, the DNR building and looked through the various displays under the Grandstand before heading back to the livestock barns. We took the free tram ride, which stopped right by the Budweiser Clydesdales so we got a good look at them before hopping back on the tram and heading back to the goat show.
By this time it was time for a snack..a milkshake (from the Dairy Barn of course) and a slushy would tide the family over until after the goat show ended.
Miss Jaci got third place with Possum and was told she was an excellent showman, which made us proud. Claypot stood second with Hottie, and was in for the Championship Drive, but it was not Hottie's day. A good experience for both none the less.
Once the show clothes were exchanged for shorts and a tee, we went off to do more exploring. A quick trip through the Agriculture building for a jar of honey and a peek at the Butter Cow was in order. We found more cheap and good snacks there, as the Iowa Egg Council hands out FREE, yes I said FREE eggs on a stick..so the three of us got a $2 lemonade refill and each had a free egg! We then found the Salad Bowl, where we ordered PB&J on a stick for $2 and the Caprese Salad on a stick for $3. The PB&J was four mini sandwiches on a skewer with fresh strawberries and grapes in-between the sandwiches and the Caprese was cherry tomatoes, fresh mozzarella and basil layered on a skewer. It was a refreshing and healthy snack for $5 that again, we all shared.
We managed to walk through every building and every display, save the Cultural Center and Pioneer Hall. We bought two wedding gifts while on the grounds, and while we were walking towards the exit gate, happened to see one of the BBQ vendors selling bulk sliced, smoked roast beef. We got 3 pounds for $12. Hello lunch for the next few days...if that isn't a bargain banner day at the State Fair, I don't know what is!
I'm already counting down the days til next year's event and planning how many days I can go and how many foods on a stick we can share!
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