Monday, August 29, 2011

a story of a boy and his steer....

the once was a young boy who dreamed of raising his own purebred gelbvieh cattle...

this young boy bid and won, all by himself, his first pure bred heifer, {flying caddie}, at the age of 6!!

he was officially in the business...

fast forward a couple years he was now old enough to join 4-H and could try his hand at winning grand champion show steer!

the morning after weigh-in M29X was a little sleepy...{it's hard work being 1330 lbs of fabulousness!!}



each morning brought a fresh pile of hay, bucket full of rolled corn and barley, and fresh spring water trucked in from over an hour away...good grief you can't expect him to drink water with chlorine in it can you!?!

each morning also brought bath time...





nothing better than being showered and scrubbed down in 90 degree weather...

once the young boy and his, *amazing* *kind* *loving* *would do anything for her son including rolling his show steer's tail in hot-pink foam rollers* mother, cut, combed, and blow dried M29x's hide till it shown like a pool of reflected moonlight it was showtime...


this young boy and his steer participated in showmanship and fitting the first day and tried their hand at bringing home a shiny new belt buckle with title of {grand champion steer} the next day...

while many kids were dragged around the arena by their anxious steers, the young boy and M29X quietly made their way around without so much as a snort, tail-in-air, how-do-you-do...

much to the relief of the now, professional tail-curling mother...



the final day was spent much the same in preparation for the young boy and his steer with a different ending though...


M29X was auctioned off and wouldn't be coming home with the young boy...

the young boy was left facing an empty stall and the job of cleaning up after a best friend and a weeks worth of hard work...



many tears where shed and the young boy with the rest of his family still morn the loss of M29X...

he was the most gentle, easy going 1330 lb steer any of the prairie family had seen...

but the young boy's cowboy hat is dusted off and turned to the morning horizon, for he is in the business of raising cattle, bringing to you the best quality of beef out there...

he is already eyeing over his herd of purebred cattle and trying to judge which steer will help in bringing home his dream title {grand champion show steer}...




while during the live stock show i posted updates on my facebook page...one post was of ian cleaning out the empty stall with a caption of: an empty stall and tears being shed for a friend no longer here....
a couple of days later a comment was made along the lines: {i thought he lost his pet, it just broke my heart until i knew it was his steer}...
well he did lose his pet and best friend...
can you imagine working with a 1300 lb animal morning and night for an entire year and not feel some connections?
i hope i can help you understand how much trust {this took a huge amount on my part...considering my 75 lb boy was hanging onto a rope connected to 1300 lbs of wild animal} and love was put into the raising of this steer...
the sacrifice and life lesson that my small boy went through...
yes, we are in the business of raising beef cattle, yes, we send our cattle to slaughter each year...
but it doesn't mean that we don't {live} for those cattle while they are in our care, they are given the very best so you, the consumers may have top quality beef for your own families...
the livestock show was an *amazing* experience for my little family...
it took a lot of work and dedication from everyone and it was a chance to show how much pride we take in the raising of our cattle...
i hope with this little story and explanation you get a better sense of what my family loves and works for here on the prairie...

Friday, August 26, 2011

changing my world...

please watch....



are there words that can follow?

i have been touched by the power of beautiful words this summer...

i have also been touched by the despair that words can create...

a word...

is so simple, can take only one breath...

yet the strength, guidance, and acceptance created by one tiny utterance is profound.

i'm not an eloquent girl, words do not come easy for me...

i am more comfortable within silence, within the few whispers softly spoken...

but i do understand the far-reaching effects of words...

and i am ready to change my world...



Monday, August 22, 2011

august in review...

sheesh...

still trying to catch our breaths around here from this whirlwind we call life...

sorry for the lack of posts lately...after returning from barnhouse and the awesome *craziness* of it all i think i hit a brick wall..

barnhouse was such a HUGE dream of mine {*thanks* dear boys!! xoxo}.... to finally have lived the dream really rocked me and i almost felt lost and found myself thinking {now what?!?!}...

so august was spent sending my {roots} down farther into this life that i *love* and {refocusing} on what is most important to me...my *family*...

my quiet moments, which were very few ;0) were spent reflecting on where i wanted my photography to go, what i wanted from the term {artography}, what new adventures and tasks i wanted to explore...

it has been good, i've missed you all SO much but i'm better for the little absence and i am feeling SO much more focused and ready for what happens next...

as many of you know this was our first year as *show steer parents* and let me tell you....we had NO idea what in the world we were doing!?!?

ian's steer weighed in at about 1350 lbs. and was one of the most gentle, calm, loving, animal ever...

i have oodles of pictures to share and some feelings i really want share, it was an amazing experience for us all and i hope to have my thoughts gathered together soon...


right after the stock show came our county fair...

even though we didn't help with the little buckaroo rodeo this year we were still running every which way...

ian entered into the gymkhana timed events with his little mare pippi...

it was a long hot day for both of them...




soon after that it was off to load up some old girls for the wild cow milking event that night at the rodeo...
i am not kidding it is one of the best, most *hilarious* events ever!! those old girls sure have their way with some big, old tough cowboys...good times!!

richard participated in this event and i do have a video just for you nicole!! :0)

ian did the hide race again this year, he came in second place and has the rope burn down the center of his face to prove it...poor thing...but he had a total blast! he is hoping to get into team roping for next year?!? where did my little boy go to?!? sigh...

i hope to post the videos a little later this week...i tell you HIL * AR * IOUS!!

i will also be opening up my little shop again soon, neglected little thing...i have started back to school, so it may take me awhile to get into the whole swing of things...

i can't believe summer has already come and gone...it was *fabulous*, stressful, full of adventures, and cherished memories...couldn't have asked for anything more!!




Tuesday, August 2, 2011

Barn House Market...




*thank you* all for the kind words on the prairie schooner! :0)

while going through my photos i realized i didn't even get half of the booths there?!? it must have been a longer night than i thought on friday!

so if you have photos and/or blog about Barn House let me know and i can link readers over!! *thanks*

first up of course Barn House Boys...

{hi deb!!}

gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous displays!!



this little beauty SO wanted to come home with me...sigh...i think richard was thankful we live in a teeny tiny house with no where for me to have put it!! *LOVED* it!!


natalie with sparrow...


i could have bought her whole booth!!


my dear friend sue with bella...


she always has the most incredible industrial finds!!



sigh....*bliss*...





the old school house...

only stacy's second show...can you believe this girls skills!?! *love* this girl!


and dear auntie joy...

holy hannah this girl is *hilarious*!! i don't think i've snorted so much in my entire life!!

{the only photo i have of joy is when she shared a water trough cool down with joe... :0) good, good times people!}

only a tid bit of what was offered i'm not kidding you...i can't believe how many photo opts i missed out on...should have put down the beer and grabbed the camera!! :0)

put this event on your calender for next year...you really don't want to miss it!!




Monday, August 1, 2011

The Prairie Schooner...

i have been home since late last night from the most *unbelievable* experience ever!!

with a 20 hour drive with nothing much but my thoughts {and an *amazing* husband!} :0) i have yet to find the words to describe Barn House...

i cry thinking of the love, beauty, and complete *magic* that joe and jermonne have created and most important *LIVE*...

nothing but pure beauty in each and every way from the vendors, friends, shoppers, hosts, and location...

words are lacking; it is something i can simply not tell you about and have you understand...i hope with some photos the feeling of gentle *love* can be felt and shared...

i promised lots of photos and i do have many so i've decided to break it up into two parts, well maybe three, because i believe audree and tiffany deserve their own post!! :0)

first up....{The Prairie Schooner}...aka the saggin' wagon {NOT shaggin' wagon people!!} ;0)




the poor little thing had a pretty hard journey across the prairie...

i was worried that she wouldn't make it the entire day...

the heat and humidity where not very nice to her...but all was well and she made a beautiful covering for some faded goods...






this little photo is the first richard and i have had together since our wedding 13 years ago!?? can you believe it!!

*thank* you dear lara for the photo {it was SO good to finally meet you and your darling mom!!}, and *thank* you richard for being patient while i bossed, for building my crazy dream of having a covered wagon, and for being the best husband a girl could ask for!!


*thank you* dear joe and jermonne for including this humbled prairie girl, for the *amazing* support and encouragement, and for the *love* and *faith*... XOXOXO

*thank you* to all who stopped by and supported my dream...if you have photos please let me know, i would *love* to share them!!

tomorrow i will share some photos of the other booths and the *amazing* people who welcomed me with open arms...




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