
Our orchard was primarily used to grow apples for cider. My mother had Kate’s Sweet Cider as a business when I was in high school. We still own the crusher and press, and I’d hoped to get it all running. This year, we had a huge crop of apples. We couldn’t get pickers, so most… Continue reading

On Saturday, October 4th, we had our big Garvin Mesa Day Open House. All three wineries and our farm were open, with special events planned. We had a barbecue with mutton legs for tasting, plus some locally-produced cow’s milk cheese. The three wineries – Terror Creek Winery, Stone Cottage Cellars, and Azura – all had… Continue reading
I was fortunate to be able to attend the Black Welsh Mountain Sheep Annual Show and Sale in Abergavenny, Wales, on September 4th, 2008. Then, I got to judge and view a number of flocks, culminating in my attendance at the Cadet Judges training. It was held at the Ted Williams Garth Uchaf Farm in… Continue reading

Another day with Melinda Baker. We sorted and looked at her entire flock, then got to finish two other flocks as well. Here are Melinda’s show sheep, ewe lambs, and wethers. After getting the catch pens set up, we got the sheep into the pen. It was refreshing to see someone else set up pens… Continue reading

My next stop was at Melinda Baker’s farm in Shepton Mallet, Somerset. She had to work for part of the day on Friday, so her husband kindly took the day to take me around and play tourist. This is the chapel of the Marston House. It belonged to the Earls of Cork and Orrey. The… Continue reading
In the pens, ready to be judged. Ted Williams with his ewe entry. Julia Patterson with her ram. Judge Matthew Evans checking the turn of a ram’s horns. The Adult Ram class. E.O. Williams with his ram. A couple of nice older rams. A very nice boy with wide-spread horns. Checking the shoulders. Checking the… Continue reading

This is the Park Guest House, the B&B where I stayed in Abergavenny. I took the first day there to recover, then spent all day on the fourth walking around Abergavenny and doing touristy stuff. Our first stop was, of course, the castle. The ladies at the castle museum sent me on to the St.… Continue reading

Thursday was the sheep show at the Delta County Fair. We took nine sheep. Three were ewe lambs, three were ram lambs, and three were aged ewes. Stephanie and Jacob trained the sheep with me, and all three of us showed in the open classes. The poor judge had never seen little black sheep before,… Continue reading

Tuesday was the Delta County Fair Open and 4H Poultry Show. The Hellecksons and I show chickens in the open class. Here we are in the judging lineup with our old Gold Pencilled Hamburg hens, who were molting and looked pretty scruffy. Stephanie took first, Jacob second, and I had a barely-not-disqualified third. My birds’… Continue reading

Roy and Pim from the Netherlands have arrived for a short visit. We stored a mountain bike for Roy for a few years in our garage. I know Pim from my old multimedia programming days. We had a fun time visiting with them. I hope they enjoy their US stay and ride a lot of… Continue reading