Show and early judgement
Because we don’t really like to relax on weekends* (or perhaps because I am a little bit mad) we attempted to fit a couple of weekend’s activities into one, last weekend.
After driving almost 5 hours seeing Cal ride in his rodeo finals on Saturday, we drove the 450km home at got up early to get to the local show. The kids had a special event to participate in, and it’s a good chance to catch up with neighbours and locals we don’t see very often. (It’s one of those things in the bush – we might be neighbours, but not actually see each other for months at a time!)
We also caught up with Jeanie and her gorgeous girls…
Dash took Paris for a walk around the sights of the show – sideshow alley was top of his hit list I think! She didn’t seem to care, just happy to be around her big cousins…
While Salina was the leader of the pack, as the assorted cousins (our brother’s offspring too) joined in the hair-raising merriment…
Violet’s whisps started the day neatly tamed. But they didn’t stay that way!
There were the usual gorgeous animal exhibits…
Goodness ME that is a sweet little equine thing… and one FABULOUS normal-size horse!
The crowds were fascinated – by the machinery, the bovine beauty and by our Showgirl…
The divine Donna… she knows her way round a cow, runs a local business and always looks fabulous.
We think you can go all the way, Don… (Not that I am biased at all – just cause she is my SIL’s sister!)
Then (just seven hours after we arrived) it was time for Dash and Violet’s event…
The Young Judges competition…
Where those under 21 try their hand at some beef cattle judging – sizing up animals of the same sex and age (but varying breeds), scoring and placing them, and then sharing their results on the microphone…
Our little school has just started it’s own Cattle Club for students to practice and participate – it’s very popular with almost half the students involved. Violet takes it very seriously (as you can see by the nail polish she slaved over before we left the house).
There was note-taking, adding up, working on wording…
And then the hard bit… talking in public!
Violet was very shy, but with some encouragement from Mr S (their mentor) she handed down her verdict (almost exactly matching the overjudge!).
Dash spoke too – he is a little more confident on the microphone. He scored second top in the school’s participants (and, most importantly*, agreed with my placings).
While our kids didn’t take home any of the major prizes on the day, they all did themselves proud and got some wonderful encouragement from organisers who handed them some special ribbons, and from the overall winner, Nicole (pictured with them here).
Nicole is a very successful cattle fitter (showing animals at shows throughout the state) and we reckon she can go ALL THE WAY in the National Young Judges title. (Not that we are biased.)
Encouragement means a lot to these kids. Not all are from cattle properties and most are pretty shy in front of crowds – but because they get encouragement from people like Nicole, and their parents and their mentor and their teacher (who voluntarily took on this additional role beyond her teaching duties) I reckon they will all go far too.
I know that despite my house looking like a bomb hit it, and despite kilometres covered, despite the lack of relaxation on this weekend…
These grins…
Make the madness of weekends like these all completely worthwhile!
What is your most encouraging moment from childhood?
What mad things did/do you do for your kids?
🙂
*None of these things is actually true!
And they call the thang...
8 Comments
Kelly
I love these little glimpses into your life!
Oh…and the Scrambler was always a favorite of mine at the county fair. They look like they’re having such fun!
Kelly´s last blog post ..Mooooooo!
jeanie
Paris did mention that the best thing about the show was the cousins!
jeanie´s last blog post ..Saturday night – or the journey that led to the recipe that led to late night philosophizing…
Fiona
You just can’t beat a bush show.
And Junior Judging is just so good for kids, even if they were to never become involved in the beef industry. It’s a great learning tool for having confidence in your own convictions and of course talking in front of a crowd. Well done kids.
Fiona´s last blog post ..And on the Seventh Day …
Colin Huggins
Fantastic shots of the “junior judges”.
Wonderful to see, obviously taken very seriously also. Great boost for confidence.
Well done.
Yep have a new fangled computer installed, but everything is so different. I bet your two could sort it out in a jiffy. Poor old computer illiterate me, well it is ageing me rapidly. Moving the old to the new was a very costly business. PC technicans sure know how to charge, I think by the minute??
Cheers
Colin
Carol Alex
Great pics. Dash is such a cutie and so is Violet. You can tell they really enjoyed it.
Colin, yes very expensive, like $180. per hour for a tech to do anything to a computer here in the states. Crazy!
Colin Huggins
Carol, couldn’t agree more.
Costs here in Brisbane and this is in my case a good bloke and cheaper than most from the major PC outlets of their “expert personnel”. I think you require full confidence in who fixes your computer.
My costs:
1. Travel expenses both ways = $20.(Based on taxi fares). However, my bloke obviously had no idea of the fares. From Nundah to here, red lights permitting it is at least $17 one way. ($34.)
2. Walk though the door = $88.
3. Then the clock starts!!! I was charged $50 every 30 minutes, took 90 minutes.
This was done twice! Tried here before taking both “black boxes”.
So according to my mathematics ,this was #258 – Twice.
Imagine if you lived in the country and not close to a town or city! #1 would skyrocket.
So what I did, rather smartly,I think.
I e-mailed the 9 blogs I view to myself, thus I was able to look in public libraries at no cost. I also e-mailed some of my reports as attachments. So if you want to retain things of importance, e-mail them to yourself. Result, not lost.
Ah yes the joys of absolutely depending on computers and availability of e-mails.
So once I get the hang of this new fangled stuff, I go to see my bloke tomorrow with memory stick to have first lesson. I hopefully will be OK???
Anyhow, Carol, how is your table dancing going? I have forgotten what state you live in the USA. I recall it is on the Atlantic coast side.
I think I may resort at my age to doing “busking” on tables to pay for this exercise – ha ha! Nothing like a Hofbrauhaus routine to see the dollars, hopefully fly into your cap!!!
Cheers and remember all – save to an e-mail to yourself all you REALLY want to retain.
Colin
Carol Alex
Colin, haven’t had time for table dancing this spring, Ha! We are into mowing grass again and planting a few vegies. And yes, those memory sticks are great for saving any info you want to keep from one computer and transferring to another. Once someone shows you how it’s pretty simple. Good luck! I hope you aren’t freezing down under.
Carol Alex
Oh yes, I live in Michigan. Had lot’s of high water here this year, yuck.