Granddaughter Visit – State Fair Show Day

Posted on August 8, 2024 by Robin

I realize as I’m writing this post that is more about the sheep show than about Kirby, but she starred in the last post, and the sheep show is why we were there. The Heritage Breeds show was on Sunday, the last day of the sheep show. I am the person who, several years ago, asked State Fair to include a Heritage Breeds show so that those of us with Jacob, Icelandic, Navajo-churro, Shetland, to name a few of the breeds that have shown there, could enter. The entries slacked off towards 2019 and then there was the pandemic. Since the fair has been back, Kirby’s sheep and mine have been the only entries in this division.

This year a Karakul breeder from Southern California entered. so we had competition.

This has nothing to do with the sheep show, but it is another animal with impressive horns. The longhorn cattle are in the other part of the barn during the sheep week. Their show was also Sunday afternoon.

One of the reasons that I originally wanted to show sheep here is that I thought I could be competitive for the Marketing Award. I spend a lot of time in preparing the different components of this display. It is probably more educational than marketing, but I am marketing more than sheep–for me it’s about the other parts of the business, all related to the sheep and wool.

Before the show we got all the sheep on halters and brought them outside the pens to get the straw off the bellies. In the morning Kirby and I spent a few hours with sheep at the wash stalls trying to scrub feet and legs and clean horns. Jacob sheep are shown in a natural state at the fiber shows where I have seen them, and I would not show at all if they were expected to be fitted. I do feel as though they look out of place compared to all the other sheep at this show.

The first class was Yearling Rams. We took first and second place because mine were the only two in the class. There was competition in all the other classes and the Karakuls mostly placed over the Jacobs. That’s OK–it’s a good lesson that you don’t win just because you show up.

Both Kirby and I had 2 sheep in each of the other classes (yearling ewes, ram lambs, ewe lambs). That meant that we needed four of us to show sheep and I wanted one person to be available in case Kirby had trouble with her sheep. I don’t have any good photos of Kirby in the show ring, but she was able to show her own sheep. She is in the middle of this photo and the one below.

There were just enough Farm Club members here on show day to help with this.

The last few years we have had a ram and/or a ewe in the Supreme Champion classes, the last event of the sheep show. Not this year.

These are the winners of the last three divisions in the show. There is the Natural Colored ram, bigger than any of the other breeds in the ring, the Karakul representing the Heritage division and the winner of the All Other Breeds Wool division, a Cotswold I think.

The judge pulled his five favorites out of the line. From right to left, Dorper, White Dorper, Southdown (I think), Dorset (I think), and Natural Colored. One of the Dorpers was the winner.

After the Supreme Champion show they announce winners of the Marketing Award and Herdsman, both awards that are not for the sheep but for the appearance and presentation of your space. Many of the exhibitors don’t include any signage or have any interaction with fair visitors. These awards are meant to be encouragement for exhibitors to provide information for the public.

For the sheep and goat show I got 2nd in Marketing overall, Best Program in Marketing, 1st in Herdsman and Best Educational Presentation in Herdsman. I also got 2nd for Best Educational Presentation over all the livestock shows during the run of the fair.

Last year Kirby’s birthday was at the fair. This year her birthday was the following day. She chose the activity and that will be the last post about her visit.

Granddaughter Visit – State Fair 1

Posted on August 7, 2024 by Robin

A couple days after our Airbase Tour it was time for State Fair. We had worked with the lambs every day since Kirby got here nine days prior to the fair, but I didn’t get any photos then.–too busy. For the last couple of years Kirby has had a long enough visit to California to spend time working with the sheep and then going to the fair.

I gave Kirby her first lamb in 2019 and she showed at State Fair that year. There are photos in that blog post on my website, but the one below is one of my favorites.

This is Meridian Belle as a lamb in 2019. Kirby’s flock has grown to include Belle’s daughters, Beauty (2021), Rose (2022), Cindy (2023), and Jingle (2024) and their offspring. Beauty’s daughter is Belleza (2023) and Rose’s daughter is Lily (2024). There have been male offspring as well but I haven’t kept them. We may keep one of the rams this year. Kirby’s flock prefix is KJ Royalty.

The sheep arrive at the fair on Thursday of the third week.

I forgot to take a photo of the space before we unloaded sheep. First thing is getting sheep out of the trailer, vet check and then putting them in pens. We have a lot of other stuff to unload because of the display that I do. That will be another post.

Kirby enjoyed taking her sheep out to share with the public and so that they get calmer when being handled. This is KJ Royalty Jingle, Belle’s daughter.

We used to show dairy cattle at the State Fair and Katie (Kirby’s mom) was a little younger than Kirby is now. At that time people from the Livestock Office took visitors on barn tours. Katie would spend time at the end of the line-up of cattle and talk to people. I remember hearing one woman telling another “that little girl knows more than the tour guide”.

Kirby is also good at engaging visitors and answering questions.

Sometimes you need a break from it all…

…and then maybe a nap.

After a break it’s time to go back to engaging the public.

KJ Royalty Lily, Rose’s lamb.

The signs over Kirby’s yearling pen.

When friends were at the fair I was able to walk around with Kirby a bit. We spent a lot of time at the Cavalcade of Horses, where different horse performances happen every hour.

A display presented by the California pear industry.

State Fair – One More Post

Posted on August 2, 2023 by Robin

The story of the last day of the California State Fair, which was show day for us, is here. The other days are in this post. Now I’ll go back to the last day because one of my friends sent me photos of the last show and there are some others to share.

The Supreme Champion show was scheduled at 4:00. This is where the champion animals of each division compete together. The ram class is first followed by the ewe class. They enter the ring in order of the shows over the two days of showing. Kirby’s yearlings were given Champion ram and ewe earlier in the day, the second to last division in the sheep show. This photo shows the ilne-up of all the rams. From right to left Southdown, Dorper, White Dorper, Wether Sire/Wether Dam, Dorset, Hampshire, Suffolk, Montedale, AOB (All Other Breeds) Meat, Columbia, Natural Colored Wool, Primitive, AOB Wool.

Here is a closer view of our end of the line-up.

Two people wearing Meridian Jacobs shirts viewed from the back in the sheep show ring.

I like this photo (if I ignore my hair) from Beth.

I handled the yearling ram, Thorn, but Kirby led Rose into the ewe class. I was just back-up. It is rare that a breed like Jacob would win Supreme Champion. It did happen once! Here is a post from 2016 when Meridian Rotor won Supreme Champion Ram. I have the belt buckle and banner to prove it! The judge had spent so much time talking with Kirby in the show ring and praising her sheep that she thought she might win. She was somewhat disappointed when she didn’t.

Between the primitive breed show and supreme show Dan and I took the opportunity to walk up to the Expo buildings at the front of the fairgrounds.

One of the buildings was devoted to dragons.

Another was all about gaming…maybe. I don’t really know what it was about. We breezed through.

The one that I wanted to see was about Cannabis. I was amused when I first heard that the California State Fair would have a cannabis competition. You can enter a sheep, a woven blanket, a jar of jam, and your cannabis. Can’t you picture the judges sitting around a table sampling the entries? Not like that–this was all lab test results. This was a well done display, with lots of reading about the history, the time-line of cannabis culture in California, and the differences in all the varieties. Who knew? Back in the high school years it was just a baggie of leaves. I’ve been very far removed from this world for a long time. We didn’t have enough time to thoroughly read all the information there because we had to get back to the barn for the Supreme Show.

I have never been part of the gaming or dragon worlds and barely a participant in the early cannabis years so these exhibits made me feel old again.

Back to the barn. Farm Club members were holding down the fort. Yay for Farm Club!

After the Supreme Show they gave out the awards for Marketing and Herdsman. Usually those awards are presented between the Supreme Ram and Ewe shows, but they weren’t announced until after the ewe show and after the photos were taken. It was rather anticlimactic since all the spectators had left and I was the only exhibitor there to pick up the award. See the first State Fair post linked above for photos.

When it was time to take down the display and load sheep I let Kirby watch the last horse event of the fair. When we were finished I joined her. When this show finished we left for home.

State Fair – The 4th Day

Posted on July 31, 2023 by Robin

No, you didn’t miss the first, second, and third days. I haven’t had time to sort photos or write anything. So I’ll start with the last day which was our show day.

Row of Jacob sheep tied to blue fence panels at fair.

We tied our sheep to the outside of the pens while waiting our turn so we could get the straw off the bellies. We had 11 sheep at the fair this year. I was missing a yearling ram because I sold Turbo at the Estes Park show. My show string consisted of 2 ram lambs, 2 yearling ewes, and 2 ewe lambs. Kirby has sheep that are the descendants of the ewe I gave her in 2019–I don’t give her sheep each year for the show. Kirby had twin yearlings (ram and ewe), and three lambs (two ewes and a ram) to show. I just looked at the blog post I wrote after the 2019 State Fair. There are some of my favorite photos of Kirby there, and you’ll see some of the same other characters in 2019 as in this post.

Two people in green shirts with two horn ram at fence.

Kirby with the yearling ram, KJ Royalty Thorn, twin to KJ Royalty Rose. It’s the breeder’s prefix that is part of a registered sheep’s name, and Kirby’s prefix is KJ Royalty. She was the owner of Meridian Belle when she was bred. Now all the offspring of Belle and Belle’s offspring will have that prefix. There is a theme here for some of the sheep names. You’ll pick up on that if you’re a Disney fan.

Thorn was the only entry in the Yearling Ram class and the judge gave him high praise for conformation and fleece.

It is too bad that there are no other breeders showing up for the Primitive Breeds sheep show now. Pre-pandemic we had some Shetlands, Icelandic, and other breeds so there was competition. Now it’s just Kirby and me as separate breeders. This is the Champion drive for rams. That’s Thorn as the yearling. My ram lamb, Meridian Cyclone (weather theme for 2023 lambs) was first place ram lamb and Kirby’s Gusgus was second. Thorn was given Champion Ram and Cyclone was Reserve.

There were three Farm Club members helping on this day and it took all of us to make sure the sheep were where they were supposed to be and Kirby had an adult helper so we don’t have more photos of the show. But we have photos of After. Thorn’s sister, Rose was awarded Champion Ewe so Kirby made out with the banners.

Fair week is always exhausting and Kirby’s four fair days were at the end of being away from home for six weeks. Her birthday was the previous day, and there was a lot going on then as well.

After the show we were back to educating (entertaining / enlightening?) the public. I am grateful to the Farm Club members who came to help. Siobhan was there Thursday and brought a local friend to help also. Lisa came Friday and Saturday. Marina, Beth, and Doris were there Saturday and Sunday. I couldn’t have done this and stayed sane without them there.

This entertainer showed up in that 2019 post.

He rides all over the fair and makes balloon characters for kids. This is a dinosaur that Kirby plans to take home to her brother. Hopefully it will survive a road trip back to Texas.

The last event of the day was the Supreme Champion show. Both of Kirby’s Champion sheep needed to be in their respective classes. This photo shows Rose and Thorn together. I don’t have photos of the Supreme show because I was in the show ring with Kirby. Afterwards they announced the Herdsman and Marketing awards.

We did it! First in Herdsman and first in Marketing. These awards have more meaning for me than the sheep show awards because there wasn’t competition in the sheep show ring. Actually there wasn’t that much competition this year for these, but there was some and we really worked for it.

If you look at that 2019 post you’ll see that this is the same crew as then, with the addition of Kirby.

While we were loading the trailer and my car I let Kirby watch one last horse performance if she stood at the corner where I could see her (easy in the bright green shirt). When we finished loading I joined her.

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!

More from the State Fair

Posted on August 7, 2017 by Robin

The State Fair seem so long ago now, but it was only last weekend. I wrote a post about our sheep exhibit and our wins. But I also wanted to share some of my other favorites before I move on to my next adventure (coming up this week!!).

I didn’t venture far from the barn this year because it was so busy. However I always like to see The Farm. Here was one unique flower display.

This sign explains what many people who live in other parts of the country don’t realize about most of California.

Here is a further illustration of why much of California would be considered a desert if it were not for irrigation water.

Back in the barn, the longhorns are always a favorite.

As my friends know I’m not a big fan of llamas or other camelids (at least not up close), but they do make good subjects for photography.

Our neighbors to the back were some lustrous, fluffy Karakuls.

Julie, (our favorite bunny lady from our spring Open House and sheep and goat breeder) had a display down the aisle from us. This is one aspect of her display that shows fleece from a variety of breeds. Julie won several well-deserved awards this year for her display.

We had new neighbors across the aisle. Being Angora goat (mohair) exhibitors they were new to the Marketing Award competition, but they did a superb marketing display and won first in that category this year. We enjoyed getting to know them and teaching one of their members to spin (see the last post about the fair).

I watched from my sheep pens while they took their goats to the show ring on Saturday morning. The method was to open the gates and hope they all followed the leaders, which mostly worked.

Bringing a stubborn kid to the ring.

I wish that we could show rams beyond yearlings. This aged buck was impressive.

These photos almost make me think…

…about having an Angora goat again…

…but then I’d have to deal with a GOAT.

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!!!

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.)

State Fair 2015

Posted on July 30, 2015 by Robin

I missed the State Fair last year because I was in Texas waiting for a grandbaby to be born. Coming back to the fair this year I decided that I wanted to change my display. The fair offers Marketing Awards for each species for those who put some effort into the displays that are with their livestock. I put a lot of thought and effort into this and Farm Club members also helped with some of the behind the scenes stuff as well as being there every day of the fair.This is what the main part of the display looked like. I used rusty tin (and I didn’t have to do the DIY TV shows’ trick of using acid on perfectly new tin to make it look that way) for the background as well as additional signage over the sheep pens. I focused on Farm Club and the idea of local marketing of wool, lamb and promoting consumer education while many of the other sheep exhibitors primarily promote marketing breeding stock.

I created a Jacob sheep puppet as a craft project for kids to take home and came up with a crossword puzzle unique to our farm.

Part of marketing is using social media and the award description even specified use of QR codes. There is this blog, Rusty’s blog, a Meridian Jacobs Facebook page, MJ Ravelry group, a MJ YouTube channel and even Pinterest and Instagram (which I didn’t put on the sign). This is the fifth or sixth year that I have provided pregnant ewes for the Nursery that is managed by the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine. This doesn’t have anything to do with the Marketing Award, but the people at the vet school are so appreciative of this that I continue to do it.Isadora, one of the new mom’s would probably rather be home, but she really has it rather nice at the fair–always plenty of food and a blowing fan when it is getting very hot.

I think our CA State Fair has a lot going for it. I did not do my regular pre-sheep-show visit to the fair because of our trip to Texas and the work to get ready, but I looked at a few other parts while I was there. At the other end of the barn there are the longhorns. I am afraid that this is a dying breed–not the cattle, but the people who bring them to the fair. There are only a few exhibitors left now and I hope that someone else will choose to show them because they are always fun to see.Same with sheep, right?I always like to see the part they call the Farm. We have modeled some of our garden ideas from what we have seen here. No reason to throw out tires when they can be used to grow vegies. They had a stack of three for potatoes which I thought was very clever. At harvest time just pull off the tires.I took this photo for my husband. In the Counties Exhibit Hall I saw this cycling jersey promoting the Tour de Manure.Back at the barn, I love to see the beautiful Clydesdales. They make my yearling ram look rather small.

The fair runs for three weeks and the sheep are in the nursery for the whole time. But the sheep show is only four days. Good thing because it is exhausting talking to so many people. The moderate weather for the last week of the fair contributed to record crowds. I had to bring additional panels to “protect” the rams from people being too close and not reading the “Do not pet rams. Do not grab horns.” sign.

Of course the point of going to the fair is to show sheep although my focus is on the marketing award because it’s hard to compete in classes with many breeds of sheep. Those are my two yearling rams.

I was pleased that Meridian Crosby won Reserve Champion ram in the Heritage Breeds Division. He was not cooperative for the photo but hopefully the official photographer got one.

Both rams were happy to get back in their pen after the ordeal of the show ring.

The work paid off.

I won the Marketing Award as well as Herdsman and Best Program directed at the General Public. I found out later that I also won the Marketing Award over all the livestock species for the full run of the fair! I can’t say thank you enough to Farm Club and a couple of other friends who helped at the fair. I couldn’t do this without you.A successful few days, but all of us were glad to go home.

Meridian Jacobs' Blog

Life on the farm and at the loom.

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