MSSBA Show results

2011 MSSBA Annual Show ~ Results

Youth Showmanship

1st Clayton Mahlkuch ~ AlabamaYoung Handler Award

2ndElexis Eisenhower ~ Leon

3rd Clara Snow ~ Sommarang Ivy

4th Gavin Snow ~ Sommarang Isaac

5th Tori Gygi ~ S'more Samba

Senior Ram

1st  Lori Stephenson ~ FirthofFifth Avyt

2ndJuliann Budde ~ Windy Acres Hickory

3rd Andy Fulks ~ Boston Lake Jchen

4th Corinne Rasso ~ Sommarang Gilroy

5th Garrett Ramsay ~ WhitePine Levi

Yearling Ram

1st Meghan Namaste ~ Wintertime Grasshopper

2ndLori Stephenson ~ Sommarang Hackett

3rd Garrett Ramsay ~ WhitePine Flo Rida

4th Tori Gygi ~ UnderTheSon Gunpowder

5th Andrew Tobey ~ Tobeys Sampson

Ram Lamb

1st Theresa Gygi ~ UnderTheSon Velour

2ndTori Gygi ~ UnderTheSon Tarlatan

3rd Theresa Gygi ~ Dungaree Dungaree

4th Garrett Ramsay ~ WhitePine Miro

5th Lori Stephenson ~ Sommarang Innis

6th Lori Stephenson ~ Sommarang Ian

Pair of Ram Lambs

1st Tori Gygi ~ UnderTheSon Tarlatan, UnderTheSon Cendal

2ndLori Stephenson ~ Sommarang Ian, Sommarang Innis

3rd Garrett Ramsay ~ Nesse's Monster Mash & Nastro Azuro

4th Kelly K Bartels ~  OK Acres Cadillac and OK Acres Sawyer

5th Maegan Snow and family ~ Sommarang Isaac, Sommarang Ivar

Champion Ram:   Firth of Fifth Avyt, Owner- Lori Stephenson

Reserve Champion Ram:  Under the Son Velour, Owner- Theresa Gygi

Senior Ewe

1st Kelly K Bartels ~ SheltrgPines Salicional

2ndKaren Valley ~ Winter Sky Marrakech

3rd Theresa Gygi & Tori Gygi ~ UnderTheSon Tralee

4th Maegan Snow and family ~ Sommarang Elise

5th Lori Stephenson ~ Sommarang Farrah

Yearling Ewe

1st Theresa Gygi ~ UndertheSon White Lilac

2ndTori Gygi  ~ S'More Samba

3rd Theresa Gygi ~ UnderTheSon Assam

4th Garrett Ramsay ~ WhitePine Nivea

5th Andy Fulks ~ WhitePine Regina Spektor

Ewe Lamb

1st Andy Fulks ~ Fulks Family Sophia

2ndMeghan Namaste ~ Wintertime Vanity Fair 

3rd Corinne Rasso ~ Crosswinds Athena

4th Kelly K Bartels ~ OK Acres Vienna

5th Theresa Gygi & Tori Gygi ~ UnderTheSon Sateen

6th Kim Nikolai ~ Kimberwood Magic

Pair of Ewe Lambs

1st Lori Stephenson ~ Idelle,Irene

2ndMaegan Snow and family ~ Isla, Ingrid

3rd Kelly K Bartels ~ OK Acres Vienna and OK Acres Seneca

4th Garrett Ramsay~White Pines Saigons Special and WP Saku

5th Penny Becker~Tia and Kahlua

Champion Ewe:  SheltrgPines Salicional, Owner Kelly K Bartels

Reserve Champion Ewe:  Winter Sky Marrakech , Owner Karen Valley

Dam & Daughter

1stKaren Valley ~ Mandalay,Marrakech

Best Small Flock

1stKelly K Bartels ~ OK Acres Cadillac, ewe-OK Acres Vienna, ewe-Sheltering Pines Salicional

Best Fleece on Hoof

1st Karen Valley ~ Winter Sky Mandalay 

2ndMeghan Namaste ~ Wintertime Vanity Fair 

3rd Theresa Gygi & Tori Gygi ~ Velour

4th Lori Stephenson ~ Sommarang Irene

Supreme Champion SheltrgPines Salicional   Owner Kelly Bartels 

Supreme Res Champion Firth of Fifth Avyt  Owner Lori Stephenson

I know there are a few missing sheep names, so if you read this and can fill in the blanks, please let me know so I can get the correct names for each sheep that placed.  

That which angers us, controls us.

Brits and Horses

Lori Stephenson was kind enough to drive Kate and Alan to my house for one last visit before their departure on Tuesday.  The day dawned with chilly temps and a non-stop drizzle of rain.  We went to town for a nice little lunch and once we returned, we headed to the sheep.  I got the thumbs up on both the rams I plan on using for breeding, Crosswinds Thor (out of Avyt) and Sheltering Pines Bug.
They confirmed my choices for cull rams and the adult ewes I felt weren't going to move my herd forward.  (phew, someone actually agreed with me) and then I held my breath to see what they said about the keeper ewe lambs I had chosen.  I got an affirmative on the ones I'd chosen to keep, but one ewe lamb they didn't really say much about and I'm going to assume they weren't terribly thrilled about my choice there, but I have a plan.  (grin)  Let's call it an experiment, no other details on that one until I see how it works out.
Despite the rain, we wandered from pen to pen and eventually the time came for us to catch the horses and saddle them up for a real American "cowboy" experience.  Kate wasn't going to leave until we got Alan sitting on a horse.  She got her wish and here are a few photos.  In hindsight, we should have shorten the stirrups for Alan, the poor fella looked like he was getting ready to run the Kentucky Derby.

Most trails are mowed quite this nice........can you tell Kate has ridden in the past?

Alan and Dually

You have no idea how funny it was to see Kate getting off that horse.  And there's poor Lori stuck with holding the horse while we all have a good laugh.  Here's a horse, now take this camera, now take this horse....poor gal.  

Kate and Misty

Please notice the cowboy hats that both of them are sporting.  Alan's is hanging , he has a larger head ...lol

That's all I have for today.  I'm hoping Corinne has some more photos from the show to post soon, she and her sister, Marie, do such a great job of taking pictures for the show each year.  Come on Marie, where are you pictures??

Toodles for now.



That which angers us, controls us.

Huge Thank you

Can I just say.....I had so much fun at the MSSBA show this year.  We had so many friendly, helpful volunteers and exhibitors this year.  Several familiar faces and a few new faces, but all were supportive and there to have a good time.  I got to meet some great youth exhibitors this year, and what a fine bunch they were.  The young people at this year's event exhibited professionalism, good sportsmanship, maturity and friendliness that makes me smile each time I think about watching them.  Good job kids, I'm sure all your parents are very proud.
Every workshop that took place ran over it's allotted time due to all the questions, no matter how many times Kate and Alan got side tracked or hit with new questions, they patiently and thoroughly answered us.  I don't think our UK friends could have been any nicer, they simply wanted to help in any way they could.

If you happen to see Lori Stephenson.......hug her, if you can't hug her, visit her blog and thank her, she was instrumental in making the entire show happen this year.  Without her, I'm not sure how it would have been done.  I'd like to thank all the folks that helped me with things too.......Corinne Rasso, Marie, Maureen Koch, Garrett Ramsay, Krisi from Argyle Fiber Mill, Kim Nikolai, Cyndee Wolff, Terri Mahlkuch, Clayton Mahlkuch, Donna Wolff, Theresa Gygi, Juliann Budde.......and the biggest thank you of all goes to my hubby that tirelessly waited on me all weekend while I ran around like a chicken with my head cut off.   Without Mike, the Shetland herd at our place would not exist.

We had one last session with Kate and Alan at the WSWF on Sunday morning.....sadly, I and a number of other volunteers had to leave the talk before it's conclusion due to having classes that started at noon and we needed to get set up.  How I wish I could have seen the last 10 minutes or so of that workshop.  I know there was a lot of great questions and discussion concerning wool and it's properties.  One participant mentioned that the crimpy wool was problematic for her and asked Kate and Alan what she was doing wrong in her spinning process to cause the issue that was a concern.  In their usual friendly manner they simply indicated that might be a question better answered by a fellow spinner.  At that point a few spinners in the audience chimed in and suggested someone more experienced with spinning Shetland fiber might be an avenue to pursue.  This sort of exchange of ideas is what makes the Shetland and fiber community such a great place to reside.
The entire weekend glowed with this sense of wonder and awe for me.  The atmosphere in the barn was friendly, relaxed and visitors commented to me on how great everyone was about answering questions for them.  I think more than one person that strolled through for the first time fell in love with all our Shetland sheep.  Comments about how cute and sweet the sheep seemed were overheard, and a couple folks stopped me and asked me questions about my sheep.  There is even this great "front page" article in the Country Today newspaper this week showing Alexandria and Andrew Tobey with one of their sheep.  Cross your fingers that I can get it scanned and post it.  :)
So again, thank you, I'm proud to be a part of such a great group of people.

That which angers us, controls us.

More WSWF

Best Small Flock
Ram: OK Acres Cadillac......(now living at Garrett) moorit, smirslet, sokket, flecket
Ewe: Sheltering Pines Salicional (gray kat)
Ewe lamb: OK Acres Vienna (moorit)
Also pictured is my little showing buddy, Clayton.  He had Cadillac and Alabama as his 4-H sheep project this year and did well there too.

Clayton and Alabama got 1st place in Youth Showmanship

OK Acres Alabama and Clayton

You should have seen his face when I told him that the red ribbon is  the 1st place ribbon in the UK!!!
Priceless.

Speechless, Stunned, Overwhelmed.........

Giddy, jaw dropping..........those are just a few of the words you could use to describe my experience from this past weekend at the Midwest Shetland Sheep Breeders Show in Jefferson, WI.   This was the 10th Anniversary of the Wi Sheep and Wool Festival and we are grateful that the organizers of this event work so hard to include us in this wonderful event.
Kate Sharp and Alan Hill could not have possibly been friendlier, and the wealth of information that we got from them was nothing short of inspiring.  We badgered them with questions every waking second that they were near and they were such good sports and just kept answering question after question for us without ever making it seem as if we were imposing in any way at all.
Friday's judging seminar was so interesting that nobody even wanted to take a break and it ran over the time we had allotted for it, which seemed to be the theme for the entire weekend.   Friday afternoon we each got a chance to get 2 sheep in for the ram/ewe inspections and both of our guests took their time explaining all the things that they look for when doing inspections.  The "hands on" seminar was so informational, I will use it to better evaluate my herd in the future.
All the events were videotaped and we are going to try to condense the content and have some dvd's available for others to share this wonderful educational opportunity.  Contact me via email with your name, address, phone and email address if you would like to be notified when the dvd is complete.   My email address is: okacres@hotmail.com

We had a good weekend with our sheep at this show.  I took 7 sheep to the show, Salcional, a  grey kat ewe, Cadillac a moorit, smirslet, sokket ram lamb, Sawyer, a black gully ram lamb, Vienna, a moorit ewe lamb, Alabama, a moorit ewe lamb, Seneca, a black, sokket, krunet ewe lamb and Sierra, a black ewe lamb.  We did ok in the lamb classes, but it was the Senior ewe class that had me reeling with surprise.  Salicional got 1st in Senior ewe, then she got got Champion ewe, then she helped me get Best Small Flock, which I never dreamed we'd win, and finally we got Supreme Champion. I would like to thank Stephen Rouse for selling this exceptional ewe to me, I loved her before this show, but now I really love her.  (grin)  So, congrats to Sheltering Pines and to Stephen for making that day such a fun day for me.

This year's MSSBA show was a huge success, due in large to the great exhibitors that made this show so much fun.  I met some new faces and now can attach a face to the names.   The potluck was  smashing success thanks to Briony and her wonderful culinary skills.  Thank you Briony.  Thank you to Lori for working so hard to get this all done on time.  Thank you to the judges for flying across the big pond and working like dogs to help us.  None of what was accomplished this last weekend could have been done without all of you helping.
We are surrounded by great people in this world.  Kudos to all of you.

As soon as I get the official show results, I will post them along with more pictures.

Toodles for now,


That which angers us, controls us.

The World's Nicest Potato Bin

My father does a lot of incredibly handy things, and most of what he does is done with wood.  He has a scroll saw and makes some of the most beautiful and intricate items I've ever seen.  Since my husband and I decided to start squirreling away food from our garden, we've found we don't have a good storage container for our potatoes, onions and garlic.  I asked my dad if he could make a simple bin with 3 compartments for storing all our taters and such and he said, "Sure, what do you want".  I found a design on the internet that was a relatively simple box with a lid..........well, that certainly wasn't going to be what I got, what I ended up with when my dad was done, was a work of art!!!
So without further ado, let me present...........the World's nicest potato bin.......TAAAADDAAAAA!!!

Notice the doors towards the bottom, so we can access our "stuff" after the supply has gotten
towards the bottom of the bin.  Keep in mind, this bin stands almost as high as my chest.

Rear view showing the pegboard for ventilation

Top view with the lid open, center section for tators, two outer sections for
onions and garlic.  Does anyone have any idea how much garlic that would be?

Countdown.........7, 6, 5..........

Sept, 9th, 10th and 11th.

WI Sheep and Wool Festival

Stolen one liner

Ok, I have stolen a one line quote from a fellow blogger.   But, it's from a blogger that I thoroughly enjoy, so I think that makes it ok, and I'm sure he won't mind in the least.

So, thank you to John and his blog Going Gently.  I simply love this.

Quality is never an accident.  It is always the result of intelligent effort~John Ruskin


Toodles for now.

Quiet reflection

I found this quote while looking for "something" that I can place close to my heart today.  I won't go into the reasons for my somber mood and post, but I thought the quote I found was a gentle reminder to myself.  It seems as if I find the gentle nudges I need, when I need them.  
So, when my heart aches over the loss of something that gave me great joy, I am reminded of the kind souls and good hearts that surround me every day of my life.  I am blessed and grateful for every single one of you. May I always remember that I need to be tolerant of others and their views.  My views are just that, mine and I shouldn't be so arrogant to think that they should be everyone's.  


Here's the quote:


"The key to peace in your life is to be tolerant of all others.
We can learn from each other, but when you have no tolerance,
you lose the ability to learn and advance as a human being.
If we are open to others beliefs, we make our own beliefs stronger.
If we are closed to what other knowledge is available,
then we are no better than hypocrits with closed minds."
~ Rion ~










That which angers us, controls us.

I hope you are sitting down

I have a group of ladies that I knit with on Wednesday nights at Argyle Fiber Mill.  Our group is lovingly referred to as the Argylian Society of Knitters, or ASK.  In an attempt to increase knitted entries at the Lafayette County Fair this year, we all contributed knitted, felted or crocheted items.  I entered in 4 categories and got a few ribbons, one was an award of merit for my collection of 3, which was a hat, scarf and mittens.  I was happy, but not being of a competitive nature, I was equally happy for the what the others in our group got for awards.
Now to the part that you are going to need to sit down for...........my awards check!!!!

And here it is!!!  Clicking to biggefy does NOT increase it's monetary value.  (ps-I tried it already)

Now I know what you are thinking......I should be grateful for any amount at all, and I am, but this made me  just bust out laughing.  And please notice that it took 3, that's right, 3 people to ok this check with their signature.  

I better get to the bank, I need to cash my check for a big shopping spree this weekend.  Look for me in the clearance aisles.  

Toodles for now. 

That which angers us, controls us.

Another "to do" item off my list

By now, you are all probably sick of hearing about the upcoming Wisconsin Sheep and Wool Festival in Jefferson WI on Sept. 9th, 10th and 11th.  The show is featuring some very special guests, Kate Sharp and Alan Hill, and they have agreed to judge for us this year as well as do a judges seminar and some ram/ewe inspections.  It's going to be like visiting the Shetland Islands without the long, pesky flight over there.  I may be exaggerating just a bit, but I sure am excited to be given this opportunity to have my sheep evaluated by the very folks that decide who is a Flock book Shetland and who is not.  This will assist me in evaluation of my own flock, as well as allowing me to meet such learned and experienced Shetland judges.
I'm ready to have my sheep graded, and not so ready for what they might tell me, but since it's so easy to be looking at my sheep with jaded eyes, I think the unbiased opinions will benefit my flock and give me more tools to use in achieving my goals.  

I just completed my entry form, paid the fees online and now all I have to do is get more halter training done.

I encourage anyone that has Shetland sheep to bring sheep to this event and if you can't bring sheep, simply bring yourself, we would love to have you.









That which angers us, controls us.

Madison goes to his new home...........

I got 2 really nice fawn katmoget rams from Lil County Meadow X Sheltering Pines Bug this spring.  A lovely couple from the Madison area, (interesting eh?) came yesterday and purchased this guy for their 6 ewes and I was pretty pleased that such a nice ram didn't have to go to the "other place".  They had picked out Sawyer, a black gulmoget, but their ewes were too closely related to him for them to take the chance.  I wasn't too upset that they had to pass on Sawyer, I think he's going to Jefferson this year for WSWF.

I also sold 3 of my mature ewes this week...Alanna, Maggie and Aster will be calling Iowa their new home this fall!!!  I really love Aster, but since I got 2 keeper ewes from her this year, I feel I can let her move to a new home.  I have to make room for the ones I'm keeping and the new girls that will be coming to WI to help bring new bloodlines to my flock.

I anyone needs me, I will be sitting in the pasture tonight trying to make the final decision on who is going to WSWF.  I've promised myself that I won't come back into the house until I've made up my mind.  Deadline for entries is this weekend, and I can't put it off any longer.  I have a ewe for ram/ewe inspections, but what ram???  I have some lambs for the show on Saturday, but how many do I really want to juggle?  But.......how often will I get a chance to have my sheep evaluated by such experienced judges?   These are the thought bouncing around in my head.

Even though a lot of this makes me a bit nervous, my first priority to is going to be to have fun with whatever happens.   Last year was so much fun, and there is so much to see and do there, I have no doubt it will be another year that will have me telling  stories over and over. ie: Remember when Garrett's sheep laid down in the ring?  Remember when we had all that food on Saturday night and we got to watch that spectacular sunset?  Remember the goofy pictures we took of the "campfire"?  Remember when I totally missed the turn off for the fairgrounds?  Oh, that's right, I was the only one that knew about that one.

Come join us, we would love to have you....there's a potluck on Saturday night that all Shetland lovers can attend.  Eat, drink, laugh and enjoy!  Now doesn't that sound fun?

Toodles for now.

Fleece questions

I know that most of you that see this already follow Corinne's Blog.  You probably remember that she had a wonderful ram, Crosswinds Thor, and that he was coming to my farm to have a little romance.  Thor has now officially been with me for 3 (ish) weeks and he's a great little ram with wonderful fleece.   Corinne had posted  on her blog that she was having issues with how to categorize the fleece from several of her lambs this year, and with that in mind, I am posting fleece sample pictures for all of you to inspect and give me some feedback.
Here is Thor's fleece, taken last night...please excuse the lack of professional equipment to give you a truly focused shot of the fleece, I need Corinne's camera very badly.  The black on the left is very crimpy even though it is a bit difficult to see it in this shot.  the white fleece on the right is from one of Thor's spots, the tip is white, the center is gray and the stuff next to the skin is white again..........what gives?  Has any one seen this before?  As you can see, this guy has crimp up the wazoo, and I love the luster, but what is the deal with the on again, off again color chang-a-roo?

click on any picture to biggify

Thor's fleece, the stuff on the right is from one of his spots.

As soon as I can get a decent shot of Thor, I'll get it on here and formally introduce him to you. Nice, respectful little ram and just the kind of great quality I've come to expect from Corinne.

This is a fleece sample from Sparta a mioget ram that will be going to live with  Kim Nikoli @ Kimberwood Shetlands

 

New floor

We live in a berm home, which means most of our house in built below ground and is incredibly energy efficient. One of the only things I've ever disliked (bordered on hate) about our home was the carpeting in the livingroom and dining area.  We had planned on replacing it in 2000 when we purchased the house, then again every year after that. One year, the well taking it's last gasping breath on Christmas Eve, in a blizzard, ate up the flooring money.  Another year we got enough money to replace the roof and a bit extra was set aside for the flooring, but the project went over budget (gasp) and no floor again that year.  You get the idea here......

Well, this year, I told my husband that if we didn't replace the carpeting, I was going to tear it out and walk on concrete, which would be a couple notches up in appearance from the current floor covering!!!  We set aside a portion of our tax refund and quickly made a trip to Menards to purchase the flooring before something catastrophic happened that would eat up our flooring project fund once again.  It only too us 10 years, but allow me to introduce you to my new floor!  

Tess and  camera shy Nikki under the table

Floor enhancements (ie: spinning wheels)  

My hubby's legs and the new kitchen/dining room flooring

Tess loves the new floor  & the moorit pelt in front of the tv.  The silly girl barely fits on it.  

Oops, misc. veggie picture.

The garden is kicking my rear the last week or so and I am praying the oppressive heat subsides so I can be outside in relative comfort once again.  We have some evil little chipmunks that find it necessary to nibble on all the low hanging tomatoes.  I wouldn't even mind if they ate one whole tomato, but is it really necessary to take one bit out of ALL of them?  I mean, come on you little striped monsters, give me a cotton pickin' break already.   War will be declared soon, so anyone that can help battle plans, let me know, I'm desperate!  

Countdown to WSWF, 39 days!!!  Trying to figure out who to take........gotta try to finish projects that are going........but, I did get my camping paid for today, lined up a dog sitter, and I'm pretty sure I have a critter sitter, so I'm getting closer to getting stuff done.