On the Road to Estes Park Wool Market and AGM

Posted on June 15, 2023 by Robin

A week ago today we started the drive to Colorado for the Estes Park Wool Market and the JSBA AGM (Jacob Sheep Breeders Association Annual General Meeting–that’s why it’s easier to use acronyms). I just looked up acronym and JSBA is one when we say it “Jazba”, but AGM is an initialism. Just thought you might want to know that.

We got on the road at 8:30 with a trailer full of sheep.

Turbo, the yearling ram, was up front. A yearling ewe, Quince, with a single lamb and a two-year-old ewe, Quora, and her twins were on the left. The right compartment held 3 ewe lambs and 3 ram lambs. They were bigger than the lambs on the left who were still nursing.

We always bring our map books along, but there wasn’t going to be any National Park time on this trip.

Dan did all the driving. He likes to drive. I entertained myself in a variety of ways, often with my phone. We’re still seeing snow in the Sierras.

I haven’t been through the Sierras on I-80 in years. I think the flumes that follow the canyon are so interesting. And look at the water pouring out of this one.

Blue sky with clouds over the Nevada dessert, green from rain.

Nevada landscape. We were amazed at how green it was.

There are lots of “drive-by” scenery photos. As great as the iPhone is for photos, when zoomed in it can leave something to be desired. I left my regular camera home because I couldn’t find the battery charger and both batteries were almost dead.

More green landscape in Nevada. Amazing!

I think this is still Nevada, but I didn’t keep notes. Of course I assumed that I would remember. The photo info shows it was taken about 5:20. I guess I could do the math to figure out where we were.

Overcast sky over the Great Salt Lake, photo taken from the car on the freeway.

I know this is Utah because that is the Great Salt Lake. At this point it was 7:20 p.m.

Rainbow over hills with trees in foreground.

This was taken from a gas station in Lake Point, Utah, just past the Salt Lake.

It was at this gas station that I watered and fed the sheep. We stayed in one spot for about a half hour to give the sheep a chance to eat. Then back on the road.

I was keeping track of miles, mileage, etc. We were dismayed to calculate after this gas stop that we were only getting 10.2 mpg. We’d had 12.6 from home to Loveland and 11.6 from Loveland to Elko. Pulling a loaded trailer, at elevation, and up hills is bad enough, but fighting a headwind made the mileage worse.

We drove into Wyoming. I say “we”. Dan drove into Wyoming and eventually had to stop. We stopped at a rest stop abour 2 a.m. and I gave the sheep a little more hay. I can’t say that we stretched out in the cab of the truck because there really wasn’t room to stretch out, but we covered up with our wool blankets and slept as best we could. I got out my ipad and finished editing the minutes of Tuesday night’s Artery meeting so I could send it when I had wifi. Then I slept.

Stay tuned for the next day!

State Fair

Posted on August 19, 2018 by Robin

The CA State Fair was at the end of July but I was too busy with back-to-back events to post about it. Now we’ll go back in time to the fair. Of course, entering the fair is about showing sheep. But for me an important element is the display and the Marketing Award. A lot of effort goes into that from me and from Farm Club members. We’ve been using the old tin backdrop for a long time and I still really like the look. It worked especially well with the natural dye display we made this year. There are also signs about Farm Club, examples of yarn and wool on the table, and a continuous loop of about 45 minutes of my farm videos. The Touching Table is popular with fair-goers.There are more signs over the sheep pens. My potted plants were dug out of the pasture and include a sign about what is in the bucket.

There is always someone demonstrating at the booth. I was glad that I brought my loom this year. It drew a lot of interest and I wove six scarves while I was there.

Speaking of weaving, this is Lucien, who was with the Eureka! Mohair Farm across the aisle from us. He was interested in weaving so I brought the Cricket loom for him to use. I forgot the warping peg, but notice that we found something to use instead. By the next day Lucien had woven off this scarf using a clasped weft technique for his first piece! Yarns in his scarf and mine are locally grown Anderson Ranch yarn and my handspun.

Here is closeup of some of the yarns on display. Farm Club member, Lisa, dyed most of these. One of the kids’ activities we provide is this sheet for drawing in details on the sheep. Not everyone takes them home.We are also here for the sheep show. Fortunately Jacob sheep don’t require a lot of fitting, but it is nice to get them cleaned up a bit.The horns looked pretty good after a scrubbing. This is a ram lamb named Axle.This is Jana on the right and a less-glad-to-be-there Halcyon. image1-2-2 The Primitive Breeds show was Saturday afternoon. This is a yearling ram, Meridian Gotham. (Look at those shiny horns.) image3-3 Unfortunately there was very little competition this year and I had the only rams. So it’s nice to get a Champion award, but it would have been nice to have other breeders’ sheep there. image2-3 Marina and Betsy helped show. This is the ram lamb class. image2-2 Meridian Maybelline was awarded Champion Ewe. image3-2 Thanks so much to Betsy and Marina for pitching in and showing sheep. And thanks to Dona for the photos. Here we are with a pile of awards, including Premier Breeder and Premier Sire.

Winning Champion, even with little competition, means that you take your sheep into the ring on Sunday for the Supreme Champion competition. No, Gotham didn’t shrunk overnight. He was the same size as always. It’s just that those Suffolks are like ponies. This is the Supreme Champion Ewe competition. In between the Supreme Champion Ram and Supreme Champion Ewe competitions they announce the Marketing Award winners. We did pretty well! Best Marketing Program. Best Program Directed at the Public. Best Signage. 1st place Herdsman. 1st Place Educational Program. 2nd Place Educational Program over all the livestock species during the three weeks of the fair. Can’t ask for more than that!

But there is more! image5-2 Loading up in my new trailer! Oregon here we come in 2019!

Maryland 2018 – Days 3 & 4 MSWF

Posted on May 10, 2018 by Robin

This is the third post for MSWF. Go backwards in the blog if you want to read the others.

I missed the shearing part of the Sheep to Shawl competition on Saturday morning and, by the time I made it to the tent where the competition was being held, one team had just cut their shawl off the loom.

That was Spin City. They had a Scout theme, complete with cookies and merit badges.

I realize that unless you have a large screen you’re not going to be able to read the Merit Badge descriptions. Most have to do with becoming competent in skills of spinning, knitting, shearing, etc. However I particularly liked the one that shows a credit card and is awarded for: “Enabler (silver or gold). The requirements for earning this badge are: Teaching someone to knit, crochet, spin, felt, weave, or dye. You also must have ‘encouraged’ another to buy a braid of roving, skein of yarn, or spindle. Silver: If you have ever persuaded someone to buy a wheel or loom then you have earned the silver enabler award. Gold: To earn the gold enabler award you must have influenced someone’s decision to buy a farm, fiber mill, or yarn store.” The Fiber Friends’ sign said that they were “Celebrating the Royal Wedding with a Royal Shawl”.

Definitely a royal purple theme.

The third team was called Friends Thru Fiber and had a butterfly theme.

I was showing sheep Saturday afternoon and didn’t make it back to this area to find out who won the competition.

I mentioned in the last post about the opportunity to spend time with people who I rarely see.

20180505_081101 These are two of the JSBA inspectors that I communicate with via email a lot. Royal on the left, is the person who bought the sheep I brought. 20180505_133820 Here is a photo of showing Serrano that Royal just sent me.

As things were winding down on Sunday afternoon I helped Royal load the sheep for his drive to Pennsylvania. That’s my two with their new friends. Serrano in the trailer. As I left the fairgrounds I took a few photos of the gorgeous countryside. I love seeing the farms and these old barns.

Back at the hotel… …I laid out my winnings. Stay tuned for one more day of Maryland adventures!

Maryland 2018 – Days 3 & 4 MSWF

Posted on May 9, 2018 by Robin

The Maryland Sheep & Wool Festival was the reason for this trip. I spent the first day and a half in Maryland sightseeing and hiking (see previous two posts). The Festival was on Saturday and Sunday. I think I have enough photos here for a dozen posts, but I’ll try to limit myself to just a few. This post is devoted to the sheep. One of the cool things about this show is that there are examples of several rare sheep that may not be entered but are on display. Scottish Blackface. Lincoln Longwool. Kerry Hill.

Leicester Longwool. Tunis.

Herdwick.

Hog Island. Clun Forest. Shropshire. Border Leicester. And of course, Jacob. This is not my ram. This one had never been shorn. My sheep were shorn in February which put them at a disadvantage at this show. This is Jolene and Saffron waiting for the show. Andy, who drove the sheep filled trailer out here, offered to show one of the ewes. He is an experienced showman, but I’ll bet this is the first Jacob he has shown.

My sheep place in the middle. The ram, Serrano, placed 4th out of 7 or 8. Jolene was 3rd and Saffron was 7th in a class of about 10. I hung around the Fine Natural Colored Wool show in case Andy needed help. This is one of Terri M’s fleeces. Color like a Jacob, but much finer. Look who was also on display. Making their debut, these are 50% Valais Black Nose sheep, the first generation in a breed-up program with the goal of producing almost 100% purebred sheep.

Elegant and cute at the same time! Seen in the parking lot!

More from the festival in the next post.

Lambtown 2017–Showing Sheep

Posted on October 14, 2017 by Robin

I wrote a post about teaching and vendoring (a new word?) at Lambtown. Dona send me several photos of our sheep and Farm Club members that I can also share.

Buster had his own pen. The ewes are Cindy and Vanna.

Mary having a conversation with Buster.

Mary and Lisa in the barn.

Sumi, also in the barn. A lot of the Farm Club members were also on the Spinzilla team and were working to increase their yardage spun.

Lisa rode the train back and forth from the barn to the vendor hall.

The sheep show was Sunday afternoon. Yearling rams were up first.

Buster was the only one in his class.

He didn’t want to cooperate.

Do I really want to be dancing with a ram.

I think not.

He was better behaved on a halter…

…and especially when tied to the fence after his turn.

This is the rest of the sheep waiting their turns.

Vicki helped with the ram lambs.

We showed against Shetlands in the Primitive Breeds Division.

Doris helped with the yearling ewes.

Everyone was a winner. Thanks!

CA State Fair – 2017

Posted on August 2, 2017 by Robin

Someone commented on a social media post something to the effect “It takes a village–no, it takes a Farm Club.” That’s so true. Farm Club came through again with helping me at the State Fair. Some other of our fiber friends were there as well.

This is what the main part of the display looked like. When you set up a display at a fair, the first thing you have to figure out is how to make walls. There are no walls, just sheep pens. A few years ago I came up with the idea of using corrugated tin. Do you ever see those DIY or garden makeover shows? They buy tin and then spray it with acid to make it look old. We don’t need to do that. We just go out back and find plenty of beat up, rusty tin.

The signs are mostly about Farm Club and include plenty of pretty pictures of sheep. I also had continuously running videos of the farm and sheep. That’s Jackie, Mary, Dona, and Doris spinning and making themselves available to talk to the hundreds of people who came by.

People admired Alison’s vest. The yarn is some that I spun during Tour de Fleece but plied at the fair.

This year I added a Touching Table.

Greenery is part of the scoring–or at least plant material is mentioned in some of the criteria. (20% Effective use of display materials. Paper, wood, metal, plastic, plants, etc.) I am always irritated that I have to go out and buy plants that I don’t need. It’s not that easy to find ones that look good for a display like this and then I can plant and keep alive here later. So this year I dug up shovel-fulls of the pasture and labeled them as such. Even though they weren’t “pretty” it made much more sense to me.

Deborah, Alison, and Kathleen were there on Friday.

This year signs in English and Spanish and having the plants and white chain (see upper photo) in front of the ram pen helped keep people away. Does it seem like overkill? The white chain was the last thing to take away when we packed up. When we went back in the barn to halter the sheep there was someone in the alleyway yanking on Buster’s horns. What can I say?

I don’t mind the ewes having any attention they can handle. This is Vixen who learned that chin scratches are nice.

Jude and Dona spinning on Saturday.

Saturday was show day. I had cleaned the sheep up the day before, including scrubbing Buster’s horns.

Here are the sheep at the ring ready to go.

Yearling rams showed first. Buster was the easiest ram that I’ve shown in the last few years. I don’t see a blog post with a photo of him after I got him, but there is a photo here of him last October. He won his class and then was awarded Reserve Champion Ram of the Primitive Breeds Division.

Doris was a huge help. She had her sheep showing debut at Black Sheep Gathering and she looked like a pro here. These sheep are the ewe lambs, Jolene and Jennie.

The next to last class is “Flock”. That’s one ram and four ewes. Not the best pose by Vixen, crossing her legs.

The last class is “Best Pair”. I pay attention to what the judge says and use the two that he likes best. That’s the lamb, Jolene, and Buster.

Most of my ribbons were red or white because there were some top notch Karakuls also entered in the show. They swept most of the awards. I’m happy with this award though and am satisfied with the others. The big competition was still to be determined.

I reward myself each day with cold chocolate milk. Fair time and road trips are the only time I allow myself the luxury.

Speaking of showing sheep, aren’t you glad you aren’t showing Suffolk sheep? Not only do you have to do all the work of fitting, they are the size of ponies.

Back at the sheep pens, more spinning going on. This is Pat, Dona, and Susan’s husband (and Susan) who learned to spin just before I took this photo.

And speaking of learning to spin, we added a couple of other new spinners to the ranks. I met Louis across the aisle from us. He is with Eureka Mohair and asked if he could try a wheel because he had started spinning on a spindle. I brought an extra wheel the next day and there was no looking back. He did well on the Ashford Traditional but decided that his favorite was the Ashford Joy.

And this is my view of helping an 8-year old to spin. I treadled while he drafted.

Eventually he was able to spin mostly by himself. (That full bobbin is mine however–I just let him add to it.) His family was showing sheep and he was glad to hang out with the rest of us who were spinning.

The first day I plied his yarn and he wore it as a bracelet. The next day’s spinning made enough to be worn as a necklace. (He was also very excited about his henna tattoo.)

On Sunday afternoon the Supreme Champion Ram and Ewe are selected from the Champions of each breed. This is the ram class. Southdown, Montedale, Dorper, White Dorper, Wether Sire, Dorset, Suffolk, Karakul (Primitive Breeds), Merino (Wool & Fiber Heritage Breed) , Hampshire, Shropshire, Columbia, Natural Colored (can’t see that one), and All Other Breeds. In between the ram and the ewe class the other awards are announced.

We did OK. This is 1st in Herdsman, Best Educational Presentation (sheep), Best Educational Presentation (all the livestock), Most Creative (Marketing), 2nd in Marketing Program. Thanks Farm Club and friends!!!

Black Sheep Gathering 2017- #2

Posted on June 30, 2017 by Robin

I had too many photos for one post (as usual) so here is another of the weekend spent at Black Sheep Gathering. In the last post I mentioned Peyton, the new BFL ram. He just wrote a post on Rusty’s blog that you might want to check out.

In case you wondered what it was like to stay at BSG in a tent…here’s a photo of my camping spot. This wouldn’t have been fun if there was rain, but this time BSG was dry.

The whole reason for going on a Road Trip with Sheep is to show them (and maybe to sell a few). We showed on Saturday morning. The crew that showed up to help include Deborah and Brenda, Farm Club members, and Doris, who knitted that beautiful shawl in the last post, and Vicki, who has sheep and Border Collies back home. None had shown sheep before so we had a quick sheep showing lesson before the show started and then brought the sheep to the holding pen. There weren’t enough Jacobs this year (one other breeder) and we were showing against some Shetlands in the NCWGA Primitive Breeds Division.

There were no yearling rams entered so first up was the Ram Lamb class.

The 4-horn lamb on the left here was awarded Reserve Champion Ram.

Next was the Yearling Ewe class.

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It was followed by the Ewe Lamb class.

The judge liked Jennie (front) best.

The yearling ewe, Vixen (on the left), and Jennie (right) went into the Champion class…

…and Jennie got Reserve Champion Ewe.

As I say all the time, I couldn’t do this without the help of my friends…including the people who took photos and sent them to me. Thanks! Everyone had a fun experience and they all went home with blue ribbons.

I don’t know how many fleeces were entered in the Wool Show but these tables were full and there was a long line of buyers waiting outside.

I checked back an hour or so later and there weren’t a lot of fleeces left.

Saturday night there is always a potluck followed by the Spinners Lead competition. You can find handspun items in the most unusual places. (made by Marilyn from CA). It was so unusually hot for Eugene that attendance was lower at both these events. But we found familiar faces.

Doris and I took the yearling ewes to the Spinners Lead, wearing our shawls. We had both won first place in the classes in the Fiber Arts Show. Mine was in the woven division and Doris’ was in the knitted division where she also was awarded Best Use of Natural Colored Wool.

Other California friends were there. Marilyn wore the shawl that she had woven the previous day in the Sheep-to-Shawl contest. Her Hangtown Guild won that competition and she borrowed a sheep to enter this show.

Beth knit this beautiful shawl and also borrowed a sheep.

This was Doris’ first time at BSG, first time entering this event, and first finished handspun project!!

I took Cindy in the show and she wore a scarf woven of the leftovers from the shawl I wore. All the entries in this show are handspun or felted.

This is the smallest sheep I’ve ever seen at this show and she was quite a crowd pleaser.

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The next day I was sitting in the barn and spinning and glad that I didn’t have to take a sheep into the Black Sheep Cup (Supreme Champion) competition in the heat of the afternoon when I realized “uh oh, I do have to take sheep into the ring for the Young Flock competition”. Thanks to Doug and Karen who quickly helped me get the sheep to their appropriate spot in the ring, although I wasn’t exactly dressed for showing in my tank top, shorts, and Birkenstocks.

I loaded up and got on the road about 4:30. View heading south.

MJ Adventure Team Goes to MD – Day 3 continued

Posted on May 15, 2017 by Robin

Did I mention in this post how much there is to see at MDSW? I heard someone describe it as the Disney World for sheep and fiber people.

After seeing the fiber entries and the Jacob sheep I started with the tents at the top of the fairgrounds. It had been raining the day before so it’s a good thing that commercial tents are provided for outside vendors. There is mud to contend with but many vendors put straw down which helps with that.

The first tent I entered was the Equipment Auction tent. Have you ever seen so many spinning wheels in one place?

There were wheels (including several great wheels), carders, looms, and all kinds of miscellaneous equipment. Incredible.

Customers were lined up outside their favorite vendor booths. One thing that was so fun about this show was that since all the other fiber shows I have seen are on the west coast almost all the vendors were new to me.

Bunny

In one of the fiber booths I found this cute bunny.

Ears, anyone?

Silverware creatures.

Dog or lamb coats made of felted wool.

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At 1:00 I went back to the barn to help with the Jacob sheep show. These are Royal’s two yearling rams. Royal’s other helpers were his two granddaughters who were sheep handling novices so I was glad to help out.

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The girls did well showing the ewes and were fun to work with. After the show I spent more time looking at the barns full of sheep. The Livestock Conservancy (I think–or maybe it was MDSW) organized a display of sheep breeds that weren’t necessarily being shown, along with educational information about them.

Dorset-2

Dorset, a breed from England that was first imported in 1885.

Clun Forest-2

Clun Forest, a British breed first imported into North America (Canada) in 1970.

Cotswold

The Cotswold is another English breed with long, lustrous wool. The mature sheep weigh up to 230 lbs (ewes) and 300 lbs (rams).

Icelandic

The Icelandic sheep is considered to be one of the world’s oldest and purest breeds, with 1100 years of producing meat, milk, and fiber.

Leicester Longwool-4

Leicester Longwool, a sheep, also originally from England, that produces 11-18 pounds of lustrous curly wool that may grow to 14″ in a year.

Leicester Longwool

Another Leicester Longwool.

Rambouillet

Rambouillet ram. The Rambouillet is a fine-wooled sheep that was derived after prized Merinos were sent to France in 1786 and raised in a closed flock for many generations. They are now make up a large part of the commercial herds on the western range of the U.S., providing fine wool while producing crossbred lambs for market.

Romeldale cross

This is a Romeldale cross. Colored sheep, even if not a pure breed, can be registered with the Natural Colored Wool Association

Scottish Blackface-2

Scottish Blackface is the most common breed in the United Kingdom and was imported to the U.S. in 1861.

There will be more sheep photos in another post, because there are a lot more sheep to be mentioned.

Rug hooking

While I was in the barn my friends were shopping.

When we got back to the house that night everyone showed off their purchases. Mine were meager compared to some of the others. But none of them bought a sheep…

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This is Shenandoah, one of the sheep that I showed, and that got a ride to California on the Mendenhall truck.

One More State Fair Post

Posted on July 26, 2016 by Robin

Before I get back to my Road Trip blogs I have a few more photos to share. No big surprises in this post like there were in the last one, but Dona sent me the great photos that she had taken of the show. And since I’m writing another fair post I’ll include a few others as well.

I didn’t see much of the fair besides the livestock area but I walked around briefly. Here is what caught my eye.

On the wall of the livestock office.

Another longhorn, this time with not-so-symmetrical horns.

A “corn-box” for children.

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This seems like a good idea for kids but I think I’d want it far from my house. It’s hard to tell in the photo but there are metal bars hanging at each station for banging “music making”.

I always like walking through “The Farm” to get ideas for my garden. I like these bricks that made the corners of the raised beds. It would be easy to change the location of the beds.

Back to the show ring. Rotor was sometimes reluctant at moving around the ring.

Here he is at the head of the class of Shetlands and Karakuls.

This is the Primitive Breeds Champion judging.

None of my other sheep did as well as Rotor. The judge preferred his fleece over that of my other sheep, although I think they are just fine. Meridian Honey, shown by my husband, had won Champion Jacob ewe at Black Sheep Gathering in June, but she was last in this class. That is part of showing any livestock, especially Jacob sheep. There is such a wide variety in acceptable traits in our sheep that it may not really be appropriate to judge them against each other. That is why Jacobs used to be judged by “card-grading”. Each sheep would get a “grade” based on the characteristics–not putting one of a similar grade above another. But that’s not how it’s done in traditional livestock shows.

These are my two yearling ewes, Meridian Honey and Meridian Zinnia.

This is the Jacob portion of the Primitive Breeds ewe lamb class. The two lambs without much color have a bit more on the other side. They are sisters and my friend, Mary, has bought one of them.

Here is our Flock entry in the Primitive Breeds Division.

Rotor’s debut on the photo stage after winning this show. See the previous blog for his other winning photos.

Big Wins at the CA State Fair – 2016

Posted on July 25, 2016 by Robin

We interrupt this blog series…

I am not even half way through sharing photos and stories about our recent Road Trip, but for the last four days I have been at the State Fair and I have to share that experience.

Every year I wonder if it’s really worth the time and effort to go to the fair. My friends and I go to Black Sheep Gathering because…hmmm…why do we go? It’s a Road Trip With Sheep. I just bring sheep, look at fiber, and hang around with my friends. That can’t be said for the California State Fair. Although it’s close to home, it’s a lot of work. I set up a big display booth and my Farm Club friends and I staff it all day. It’s hot (105 this year), dusty, and I stay every night until about 8:30 because there are so many people still in the barn. We are under pressure to keep the area spotless and be nice to everyone because we are in contention for a couple of major awards for the display.

For Farm Club member, Mary, who is also a new farm owner, this was a new experience. She has been here before but it’s different when you have your own sheep. Before we can put the sheep in the barn they are checked by the veterinarians.

Once the sheep are settled in their pens we start with the display.

There is prestige and a good monetary award at stake for the Marketing Program that “should be directed at potential customers and show case the exhibitors Breeding Program and Operation”. Here is the scorecard:

20% Display. Clearly demonstrates it’s purpose, message and/or image.
20% Effective use of display materials. Paper, wood, metal, plastic, plants, etc.
20% Use of color and signage. Graphics and signage to create impact and storyline, QR codes
5% Special Effects. Movement, sound, audio visual, participatory element
20% Effective Use of Handout Materials. Flyers, pamphlets, business cards, recipes, children’s materials, etc.
15% Craftsmanship. Well constructed, balanced and has an overall finished, artistic, visual appeal.

Here is the finished display.

I’m glad that I had the last minute thought to provide a Touching Table. That came to me when I was looking for something else in the barn and came across these horns. We’ll expand on this next year. I was especially glad I thought about this when I realized that I had forgotten to bring the A-frame that holds some of our other interactive display material.

In addition to the Marketing Program, there are Herdsman awards that are offered “to encourage attractive, educational, and high quality presentations of all livestock exhibits”. The Herdsman Award is judged on :

65% General Appearance
1. 25% Neatness/cleanliness of bedding and aisle
2. 10% Signage, banners, QR codes
3. 10% Creative use of plants and special exhibit materials
4. 20% Condition/cleanliness of animals
5. 10% Educational material, marketing, breed promotion)
25% Feed Alleys/Tack Pen
1. 15% Free of debris, not obstructed
2. 10% Tack storage
10% Conduct
1. 5% Exhibitor sportsmanship and cooperation with other exhibitors and staff
2. 5% Public interaction and accessibility

In addition there is Best Educational Presentation over all the species entered in the three week run of the fair.

Farm Club members help to set up the display and come each day to staff the area and answer endless questions.

This is the crew that was at the fair on Friday.

I think they worry that I will forget to eat. On $2 Sample Thursday (all the fair food booths have to include a $2 item on their menus) they returned with this treat for me. I have a good photo of all of them eating their selections but they wouldn’t let me use it.

Other faces in the barn include:

This Lincoln across the aisle from us.

Suffolk ram that was just down the aisle.

Longhorn steer at the other end of the barn.

This is one of Mary’s new lambs who seemed delighted with the attention.

The yearling ram, Meridian Rotor, standing behind the “DO NOT PET THE RAMS” sign.

We spent the four days answering questions

Q: Is he normal? A: Yes, Jacob sheep can have 2 or 4 horns. (And that info is on the other sign right in front of the ram.)
Q: Where are the pigs? A: Out there (pointing).
Q: How do you get get it from this (wool in bucket) to this (carded sliver that I’m spinning)? A: We explain. Next year I will include the carders and carded batts, etc to more easily explain that.
Q: What happens if it breaks (fiber I’m spinning)?. A: Demonstrate how to join it.
Q: Where are the cows? A: Longhorns are at the other end of the barn. The dairy cows were here last week.

I spun three skeins of singles yarn while I was there.

But it’s really supposed to be all about the sheep show.

Mary and Russ practicing with their sheep.

Dona, Mary, and Amy prepping sheep for the show. We don’t do all the fitting that other breeds do. That morning I had taken each sheep to the wash stall to clean their legs and feet. We wiped their noses and cleaned the grime off the eartags. Then we pretty much just brushed off the straw and were ready to go.

The show started with yearling rams and I was thrilled when Rotor was placed first in his class and then awarded Champion Ram of the Primitive Breeds Division. The judge was not as happy with the rest of my sheep and they were interspersed with or at the end of the line-up of Shetland and Karakul sheep that were also in our division. Even Honey, who was champion Jacob ewe at Black Sheep Gathering, was placed last in her class.

The breed show was Saturday. On Sunday champions from all 14 Divisions compete for the award of Supreme Champion. Rotor lo0ks pretty small in that line-up. (Some of those smaller sheep ahead of him are ram lambs that won their divisions.) As the judge went down the line he stopped and scrutinized him more than the others.

He was one of four rams pulled out of the line-up to be in contention for the award.

Thanks to Dona who got these great photos of us in the ring. In this photo the judge is discussing the four rams and said that although he wouldn’t ever want a Jacob (at least I think I heard that) he was very impressed with Rotor.

He awarded Rotor Supreme Champion Ram of the State Fair!!!

Here is me right after with all my loot.

Oh yeah, some of that is for the Herdsman and Marketing awards. Usually that is the highlight for me because I don’t expect to win with my sheep.

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From right to left: Supreme Champion Ram (banner and buckle); Best Educational Presentation (Herdsman); Best Program (Marketing); Third Best Educational Presentation over all the species for the three weeks of the fair; Second in Herdsman; Best Marketing Program.

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Of all the years showing in 4-H and later with our dairy and then with sheep, I’ve never had a belt buckle! I guess I need some Wranglers to go with it. And maybe some boots. I realized after the show that I hadn’t even changed into my (work) boots for the show and I was wearing those sandals through the whole thing. The excuse is that it the show was at 5 p.m. in the afternoon of a 105 degree day. (I was wearing jeans though. This picture was taken later at home.)

Meridian Jacobs' Blog

Life on the farm and at the loom.

Tag Archives: sheep show

On the Road to Estes Park Wool Market and AGM

State Fair

Maryland 2018 – Days 3 & 4 MSWF

Maryland 2018 – Days 3 & 4 MSWF

Lambtown 2017–Showing Sheep

CA State Fair – 2017

Black Sheep Gathering 2017- #2

MJ Adventure Team Goes to MD – Day 3 continued

One More State Fair Post

Big Wins at the CA State Fair – 2016