I swear I'm here!!! Super busy, yet...there seemed nothing of importance to write about!!!
But Spring is here, and that is something to celebrate! It felt like the longest winter of my life...but we were also grieving for the second winter in a row...that makes for some really long and dark days. I'm also convinced I suffer from seasonal depression. Just when I think I can not stand it anymore, here comes spring!!
Let's see.. Golf has started for both my boys. That means our routine is shot, and we are trying to figure out the new one!! 9 more weeks until summer, and this mom can HARDLY wait!! Tristen has his first job, working at the same place as his Dad. Jacob was recently made part time supervisor at the grocery store he works at. I've got all the cool weather crops in my buckets, and will get my tomatoes and peppers in just as soon as they hit the shelves. Danny has his potatoes in the ground. The guys will be going to a pig auction this weekend, to pick up pigs for fair projects.
With spring comes babies, and we have several nestboxes of baby bunnies. Danny recently built is own barn, for his own project, and is already wanting to add on and expand.
We recently went to one of our favorite shows...The Windy Plains Spring Fling. This year it was held in Garden City. The last show I went to was in October, and that was just Tristen and I. The last show we went to as a family was almost a year ago. I was happy to load all of us up, and head out, with no thought at all at winning anything. I just wanted to see the people and be stuck in the car with my family for a few hours!!
Jacob no longer has rabbits, so he asked to take comments for a judge all day. He seemed to really enjoy his time. I received a 1st place Black SR buck Havana in one show, always getting beat my friend Sarah. Her rabbits are killer. (She later won BIS in BOTH shows in the Open, and also added a reserve or 2nd in the other)
Tristen won breed and best opposite Dutch in both youth shows. He was a bit shocked to see several exhibitors of Dutch and several varieties show up. (There aren't very many Dutch breeders in Kansas, these people had come in from Colorado) He won with a set of blues in one show, and a tort buck and a black doe in the other. He was trying to convince us to leave, before the Best in Show judging. He was tired, and "Dutch usually don't win BIS." Sarah and I both tried to tell him that yes, they do..and that we were not leaving.
The first show he put his tort up. I heard them announce the 1st and 2nd Reserve, and then I heard Best in show today will be the DUTCH.
Tristen's jaw hit the floor. And then the "we told you so's" started in.
This is Tristen's very first Best in Show and he won some cash. The tort was DONE and refuses to sit still any longer.
His tort, Wiggle, has done well for him every time he has shown him. But a few weeks after his last show, T and I were feeding in the barn, and heard someone start choking and coughing. It was him. The idiot had a mouthful of feed, got a drink, and choked up. I'll save you the details, but had we not been there, he would have been found dead in his cage, with us wondering what in the world happened.
Sometimes I think a kick butt show is almost better than a really bad one--Sunday found Tristen busy evaluating, culling hard, and breeding even harder, making soon-to-be hopefuls for the fall season.
I also came home with a breeding pair of mini satins, and a obber sweet Champagne buck, for a family in our town who is just starting in rabbits. And a very cute Havana doe I can't wait to grows a bit more so I can breed her!
On the way home, I thought about just how many places, experiences, and people we have met...that all started with a couple of 4-H rabbits named Carly and Bulls-eye.
Happy SPRING!!
