The State Fair of Texas!

This past week clan Daniel was in downtown Dallas at the State Fair of Texas! The two older whipper-snappers were showing their steers at the progressive steer show. That simply means that the steers are not fully developed and ready for market but are working that way. They both showed in the same breed category of AOB (all other breeds) which simply means that they are no specific breed of cattle but are, well...mutts. There is a lot of work to these shows. We had to arrive on Monday and the show is not until Wednesday. We did not want the whipper-snappers to miss too much school so Bub went with the Mrs. on Monday and Sissy went on Tuesday. They were both there on Wednesday.
You have to be in the 3rd grade to show in Jr. FFA so Sister has a few years to go.

They have to wash their steers, blow dry them and get them all shined up for the show.

They also have to make sure that they get their school work done while they are there as well.

No idea why this pic is like this or even here.

There is also down time, but they usually work so hard that they are really tired.

She's so purty!

Here Bub poses for a quick pick right before going in to show. No, that's not a pink show stick. It's Aggie maroon. Papa has corrupted him.

Here is Sissy before going in to show. You can't see it but she actually does have a pink show stick.

Here are our two stockmen after the show. Sister took 6Th and Bub 7Th. Not too bad but we have a lot of time to work on them. We will have a show in December, the Ft. Worth Stock show in January, then San Antonio and Houston to follow. We'll keep you posted!

Labor Day weekend!!!

I know Labor Day was a few weeks ago, but clan Daniel has been very busy of late and getting to the computer for anything but work has been hard to get to. We have been dealing with school starting, grades, pee-wee football and cheer leading and steers! As I type this it is at a small moments peace before the State Fair stock show begins tomorrow. Labor Day weekend we went to Bakersfield to get ready for deer hunting and to get some new posts for a new barn we are planning to build in the fall. The buzzards to the left are what we found in one of our deer stands. It stunk to high heaven! I think I will let my new brother-in-law hunt from in here! He's a Chargers fan so he won't know the difference.

We also got the feeders working and the corn was flying! I had to get some wasps out of my stand but I fought them off bravely. We are now ready for youth weekend at the end of October and deer season in November.

As always while at the farm we had some relaxation time. Above Nannie and the girlie-girls eat watermelon and to the right Bub takes me and the Mrs. on a joy ride around the pasture. The tractor and go-cart don't hold the same charm as they once did. Now it's all about pick-up trucks.

We are also still cleaning up from last years tornado at Bakersfield. This is a benefit for me because I am in need of a new horse barn here at the Pearl and the downed cedar trees will make great support posts. Oh, and it's always fun using a chain saw.

Of course Papa prefers the comforts of the tractor! I can't imagine how hard this would all be with hand-saws and mules. We worked our tails off all day but I was able to bring home about 15 good posts to get the barn rolling.

We also had another task we wanted completed before this season got rolling. We have been needing to extend the yard sewer line to the camper for a couple of years now. We finally will not have to haul the trailer waste to the septic line for the barn (sounds gross I know, but this will be awesome!).







Look! Works great! Bub was really happy to help!