Today was a long day.  I started out by penning all the Flock before Mom got home from work this morning.  When she got home Dad and I worked the goats and sheep and sorted everything while Mom sprayed the pens for weeds.  All the men, including the yealings, are now back in the man pen.  Wendy, Hope and Sorghum have now joined the ewes and the weithers in the pasture. While the yearlings, are split into two pens.  The yearling weithers are in the pen with Chief, Elliot and Phinny.  The 4 ewe yearlings are in a pen with Yuchi and Twix who both are for whatever reason are limping. 

Charlie and Jorden are not happy about having to join the men in the man pen but we don't want Jorden taking Wendy away from Sorghum again ....

    So today was Saturday ... That means I could be found at work at the sale barn.  Dad and I did our shift and came right home to get to work here on the farm.  To bad we were nap attacked.  Dad and I both fell asleep.  We didn't get anything done until Mom called and said she was on her way home.  Then I got up and worked Storm and roped.  After that it was time to eat do chores and call it a day.  I did take some time to check over the shop again.   I have to admit that I am still finding mistakes.  The new way of handling the shop is different and I know that for reasons I don't understand it is necessary but YUCK!  I know I will get used to it but please hang in that with me and you will see it will get better.  And at least this way we can not only take paypal but we can take phone orders with credit cards... and international orders can be addressed too.  
      Moving on... I have one last item to get posted in the store and you see it is kind of a funny story ... Well, we were dying ... Okay No funny story ever started with someone dying but this one does...  LOL ... we weren't dying as in passing away but we were dying yarn... anyway, we tried a formula on the internet that was suppose to be a certain color and everyone knows that if it is on the internet it must be true right.  So we tried this formula and we didn't get the intended color.  We got something that neither Mom nor I really like... so we tried again ... and still it didn't turn out very well... It now looks like this

Today we started our day with a meeting with our Tax Man.  The farm is taking shape as a business and we are happy to work to keep costs down so that your fiber budget can go further.  With that in mind when we got home Mom helped me take this...

And this ...

And all of this

And a whole lot more and get it all on the web page.  
    

    We worked all day and got not only the fiber room back under control since we hadn't unpacked from the Fiber Christmas in July Festival but we also got all the products from the booth online.  We actually got to lower prices because we now only pay fees for Paypal and we are including the shipping in the price.  The only down fall is that right now we can only take credit card orders over the phone and international orders will have to pay the actual Shipping.... But over all we cut out all the other listing fees that we had to reflect in our prices and I am proud to be able to say that we do our best to keep prices down.  
    With all that done and over with I am feeling pretty bad that the whole mystery spinning thing didn't work out.  I actually had people on the list for the second round but not getting feed back does defeat the whole purpose.  And since it is costing me to send the stuff out it is just not worth the work or the hassle.... 
    While I was cleaning I did find my research though and well since I don't need it I think I am going to give it away... So here is what I am calling my research...  

If any of you want this to end up in your mail box all you have to do is comment telling me what you think of the Shop.  You can find it by clicking on the shop link at the top of the page... Then Thusday at noon I will be drawing to see who will be lucky enough to get a bit of this and that... 
    Oh you want to know what breeds they are ... Well, there is CVM, Merino, Shetland, Cormo and there are two long wools that I forgot to mark so they are going to be surprises to you as well as me ... LOL  So get to commenting and lets see who will get this little sampler package...

It was another rainy day.  Mom's surprize Lillies showed their heads today so she had me dig them all up and she will be moving them to where the sheep and Goats can't get to them.  I decided to use the day and take a few pictures.  Check this out.

    We ended the day with a bit of bad, but not to bad, news ... Angel our great rescue horse will now have to have shoes on her front feet.  Due to the lack of good nutrition before we got her, her front hooves are still having issues.  We have tried everything to keep them from cracking but nothing has worked and her front hooves have a couple of deep cracks that are getting bigger and not working out.  So to save her feet she will wear shoes on her front hooves until all the cracks are gone.  The shoes will hold the cracks from getting any deeper or wider.  That means now we just have to wait for her hooves to grow and over time we shouldn't have any more trouble

And Finally I got Wolford .... I call him Wolf for short check him out ... Sorry it isn't a better picture he wouldn't stand still while I took a good one... LOL

Tomorrow a Fiber Blog ...

    So today I worked on the web page.  I have everything in order but now I just have to get everything posted.  We still accept paypal but we have added taking credit card phone orders as well.  Now the only fees we pay are paypal and shipping.  With the extra Etsy fees out of the way Mom is refiguring costs and we will be taking pictures and posting all our products to the web page.  That is right now we have everything right here in one place.  
    In time Mom will have her own webpage but we will be using the same server so both will be separate but still in one place for us to manage.  I just have to get the new photos up and the products up.  I hope it is easy for everyone to use. 
    While I was at the computer working on the page I got a really cool email.  So how many of you are going to be at the Texas State Fair in October??  Well, I was invited to come and take part in my first invitational roping called the Big Tex 4X4 Chute out.  It will be at the State Fair of Texas Livestock show in Dallas Texas.  I was thinking that if I was going I might have to bring some yarn and stop by a yarn shop or two on the way ... So would anyone come watch me rope if I went??

    Let me start by saying we are home... And man do we have a story to tell.   I have to admit that I thought when I asked Mom to Blog for me that she would tell everything that happened but she got so excited she just posted that I won ... So now I will post the whole story ...

    First, we have to back up to Tuesday night when Micheala and I went to the practice ring together.  We were riding and racing and just having fun together as we only see each other every few years.  Well, You see, there were some home town kids that were mouthing off and not obeying the rules of the arena.  We tried to  ignore them but in the end the Arena officials had to step in and straighten them out.  We tried to keep the peace and didn't make a scene or anything but it set the tone of the speed event competition between the states and with out knowing it,  It became an us against them kind of thing.  The us was the ones following the rules and trying our best to keep good sportsmanship in the competition.   The them was the kids from Louisiana that thought the hometown advantage would be enough to make them winners.  
    Everyone agreed that I did great at keeping a good atitude through it all.  I supported my team and helped them anyway I could.  When it came time for my events I sat to the back of the arena and only spoke encouraging words to everyone.  Things like "good try" and "nice run" became big in my vocabulary.  I held my head up high and did what I do best ... Be Me. 
    In my first event, the Break away Calf Roping, I was second to last to go.  Mom was in the stands keeping track of times so that I can see how everyone placed when it is over (it is fun to go back and see how close the times were)  Anyway, There were only 9 people that caught their calves and of those only 5 had done it in a normal time.  Most ran long or missed all together.  (I think everyone got nervous because there were alot of people missing and having to use their second loop which takes longer)  When I entered the arena I paused and prayed out loud "Lord, please let me draw a time"  The gate man looked surprized the first time I did it but he got used to it.  
    I made a good clean first run with a time of 3.7 seconds.  It wasn't a bad run but it wasn't enough to take the lead either.  Then I went back to my back spot and encouraged all the other riders.  One girl was thrown off her horse face first (I took my Roping on Faith decals and tucked them some place on the stalls of contestants that I felt "needed" them for what ever reason ... I had Mom taking notes with the times)  When it came time for my second calf there were only 4 that caught both calves and there was two of us left to go.  I again prayed and entered the ring.  I went out and made a nice clean run in 4.8 seconds giving me a combined time of 8.5 seconds on two ... That put me in second place ... Known in 4-H as Reserve Champion.  The last young man didn't rope well enough to move me so that is how it ended.
    While on a short break after the Break away roping some of the Louisiana kids started to mouth off about how I thought I could rope and I just smiled and said things like "I try my best and God does the rest"  Next up was the Tie Down Calf Roping and there weren't as many entries but every entry was someone who had taken part in the Break away event. 
    The one difference was that this time I was last to go ... Again as I had before I sat at the back of the Arena on Ice and encouraged everyone with each run.  One young Man got kicked in the mouth (yes I stuck a decal on his stall too)  When it came time to run my calf I did nothing different from the first event.  I prayed and entered the arena and Ice and I made a good clean run with a time of 12.76 Seconds.  Then I was off to my spot to cheer everyone on.  When it came to my second calf I was in place to win if I just drew a decent time of less then 26 seconds. (I didn't know what I had to do but I knew I was setting pretty good)
    At this point Mom was in the stands.  She could see the times and She was praying every run I made too.  She said a quiet little prayer asking God to let his will and word shine through.  Anyway, while I sat waiting to enter the arena one man told me that since I didn't have a parent helping me in the chutes he wanted to let me know that all I needed was another consistant run and he then tried telling me that he had watched the calves and that the calf I drew was going to do this or that.  I told the Man thank you, but that My Mom was in the stands cheering and that God was with me in the arena.  I explained that with God by my side I would anticipate nothing and expect everything and God would help me handle it.  The Man looked at me and said he would have to remember that and walked off.  Once more I said my prayer and entered the Arena....
    I made my run and by the time My hands went into the air to signal I was done ... The crowd was Quiet ... Mom was to her feet and my friends and teammates in the stands didn't understand... Mom just squeeked out "he did it .. he won ..."  The Crowd looked at Mom as the calf stayed tied for the 6 second count and when the time came over the loud speaker the crowd went crazy .... I have never heard Mom scream so loud before .... And Ice heard her too ... I just smiled and rode back to my spot to await the final standing.  
    While I was waiting, I took the time to shake everyone's hands and tell them thank you for competing or for helping run things.  From Chute help to contestant I made sure to let everyone know I appriecated everything that took place that day ... One kid wouldn't shake my hand until he saw everyone else talking to me and shaking my hand as I thanked them.  I told him he made some good runs and he said I did too.  I think he started to understand and lightened up a bit.  I then took time to Thank the Lord for what he had done as well.  
    When the official times and placing were announced It was official ... I was the Champion of the Tie Down calf Roping.  Mom is very proud of me and keeps saying it ... And that Night when I went to the dance (and when Mom was suppose to blog about everything that happened)  my teammates made sure everyone knew I had won.  So much so it was kind of embarrassing.  Mom says the drama was the stuff Movies are made of and that the story book ending was one only God Could have written in real life.  
    We spent all day yesterday in the truck driving home and laughing and talking about the day before.  Today, we are taking it easy and for the record, Ice will be pastured for the next 30 days, only coming out of the pasture for a photo session Mom has set up for Ice and I in about 2 weeks.  It is now time to get Tropical Storm

So as most of you know when Mom posts to the blog something is normally wrong .... Well, NOT THIS TIME!!!  I get to bring to introduce to you the Break Away Calf Roping Reserve Champion and the Tie Down Calf Roping Champion of the 2013 Southeastern District Horse show. 

We took time to get checked in ... I will be rock the number 503.  Then I took time to talk to the other contestants that were there from Oklahoma and gave them all my number and told them if they needed anything to call me... I even took time to meet up with Michaela.... She is a girl that I met two years ago at Regionals.  It was great to see her again ...