Eldest's High School Senior Prom- with HankHenry

Prom!

Last night was Eldest's Senior Prom.

This traditional High School ritual arrives each spring, and each generation

has it's rites. They have long included dressing up, tux/glam dress and flowers;

a boutonniere, a corsage.  Currently- fake tans and cut out sections of dresses to reveal

body parts optional. Thankfully. My prom did big hair (although I had a French braid for my senior prom) and lots of turquoise dresses (mine was short, and white). Also, when I went to the prom, I believe having a date was "de rigueur". That is no longer true. Kids go in "groups" which can have dates within, but there are others without. Eldest was lucky enough to import a date- from my generation. No panic- he's a high school kid too, but HankHenry is the Eldest son of my good friend Wenders, with whom I went to high school (and she and her date were in my "group". Maybe. I don't think I remember as much as I think I remember). Anyway, this charming, friendly young man flew in from Pennsylvania on Friday, tux in hand, to escort Eldest on her big night. And, stay and play for a day or two! His flight was extra fun, as he had chatted with his seat mate, exchanged Twitters, etc. and then realized it was Brooke Hogan, daughter of legendary wrestling personality, Hulk Hogan. As I said, the boy is charming.

 For the evening, Huz and I ran the chauffeur wagon, as prom (for a generation before mine, held in the school gym) was a good hour away. Staying up that late (3?) was unpleasant. But, maybe better knowing who was driving.

 

 

 

Saturday, we did what we do here on Cowfeathers. Work. Huz worked at moving composted manure from the north side of the barn to the south side of the house, and the veggie gardens. Then on mowing.  I worked on weeding the perennial beds. Youngest worked on weed-whacking, Middlest worked on cleaning the sheep pens- as I had fortunately noted that the lambs were pushing sheep grower under the stall wall, into a horse stall, and the sheep food is cardiotoxic to horses (and dogs). Eldest worked hard at not having to work outside.

Thus it was that when the screaming started, I was the only one to hear. Huz did note my panicked look and fast limping, took off his ear protectors and also could hear. Hogs scream loudly. When we got to the hog barn, we found Violet had pushed her head between a post and a sheet of hog panel and then pulled back, hooking her ear at the base, on the end of a row of hog panel wire. She was still in the process of trying to free herself and did so upon my arrival, leaving much of her ear shred. Poor pig. So, we gathered the troops and our Prom Guest, HankHenry,  had his introduction to convincing a hog to get in a truck. When it comes to it, many hands did make for successful work. Off Violet went, with Huz and Youngest, to the OSU Vet Hospital to be knocked down and fixed up. I had looked at the mess of her ear, and realized that sewing it up would be fine, but the restraint part confounded me. Without anesthesia, it wasn't happening.

 While the boys were in TBC (The Big City), we put Pearl to use for a mount to take HankHenry for a ride!

 Hours later, the glamorous couple made it to the front lawn for pictures! The boutonniere application left him a bit nervous, but no one was injured.

I made the boutonniere and corsage for the date. Lilacs, muscari and some yellow roses, with a few lambs ear leaves thrown in. They were beautiful!

Had to add in a picture of a few others. Tuck had a nice day swimming in the creek, and rolling in the dirt.

Chaser is still really unsure about the hogs. See the vibration? You can tell he's ready to fly!

Eldest and one of her best friends, CD.

The Group.

The Prom theme was "Skyfall"- the James Bond movie. This was their attempt at a James Bond pose. Kinda Charlie's Angels.....

Every night is Prom Night at Olive Garden.

Yukking it up.
 

I believe they had a fun night. The drama was delivered in the form of dry ice popping out of a fog machine and going down the front of a girl's dress, leaving burns. Eldest had a glass of soda pop spilled on her skirt by someone, and HankHenry had a button fall off. Prom.

 

 

 

 

 



Pony Club Quiz 2013!

My computer took a vacation, but it is back, and I can share the latest do-in's.
Of greatest note was last weekend's trip to West Virginia for the United States Pony Club Tri-State Region Quiz Rally Competition. Way back when(I was in Pony Club) it was called "Knowdown". It was much like what people are familiar with as "College Bowl" where teams sit behind a desk and are asked questions and compete against other teams. That has morphed into the competition now called "Quiz". They still have a written test and the "Bowl" type questions, but now the Bowl is called "Classroom" and is just one of the multiple phases of the competition. This was my first time attending Quiz in this region. Middlest competed last year as well, but I was working, and sent her with other PC Moms. For 2013, I was given the job of Chaperone, which meant I was to stay with the team, drive them to the Barn Phase- offsite- and basically make sure they were safe and fed. This, I can do! Plus, it left me with them in any down-time, which I put to use with teaching. The team was a hard working, and polished one, having had weekly practices for some time now. They were so well put together, well spoken, and confident. Plus, they had the best hair in the rally.


Here is the braiding machine in action. 9 competitors, all before 7:30...Go Moms!

Team gets their heads in the game. Nice hair.

 Hunter's Run Pony Club fielded 9 team players. We had a full team of Junior D-level competitors, those are at a "D" rating, and 12 years of age or less, a scramble team of Senior D competitors, and two Senior C level goers. Of these, 6 were also competing for the top spots to qualify to compete at Eastern National Championships in July.

"My team"-or at least my assigned team to chaperone. The young lady on the left was our 4th team member, a "scramble" member from another pony club. When a team is short a member, the region will scramble in single competitors that don't have a team.

 All three Hunter's Run members on my team were competing to also qualify for Championships. This made them a little intense....entering the Stations Phase they were going for....

That's 100%.

 They were a mere 2 points behind the team in first place going into this last phase of the competition. They had led the field all day through the Written Test, the Classroom Phase and the Barn Phase. But they fell short in "Megaroom" and the team in second passed them by. Two of them had even protested a loss of two points for naming the navicular bone as a sesamoid. Which it is. Their protest earned them their 2 points back (and also gave them both a 100% score at the veterinary medicine table, much to my pride) So, going into Stations, they were energized and determined.

Go Team!

 When they finished Stations, they found they had gotten 94% instead, and had not wrested back the lead.

The Junior D's, meanwhile had fought their way into second place in a strong field, led by the second-highest point earner in the competition- Miss KZ!

The Senior D's earned this too! All three of my Hunter's Run girls qualified for National Championships- including my very own Middlest!

Our Senior C's were pressed for information on all topics and amazing levels. They were brave and smart, and managed a third place with a three- man scramble (tougher, because with a 4 man team, you can drop the lowest score. With a three man, you cannot.)

 The Junior D's also managed to get the third highest team score in the competition!

 The competitors, and their fearless, fun and fabulous leaders! Such great organizing and teaching makes these kids not only smart, but fortunate.

 And, all six competitors that were attempting to qualify for the Championships were successful! Wowza.

Not an official part of Quiz, but nonetheless a favorite, the kids start out with a  swim the night before the competition. Also, starts getting them ready for Tetrathalon!

High dive is no fright for kids that take ornery ponies out on windy, cold days!

The last lambs.

Sun is out, and it is a BEAUTIFUL day.  It started early, with Youngest racing up to my room to tell me that Finn had a lamb. She had had two, but one was already dead. That is bad shepherding right there. We have the other one going now, so Middlest is off school- a few hours late.
I will try to enjoy the day God has given, and not be too sad about the baby lambie.
The daffodils, cherry trees, forsythia and muscari are all blooming wildly! It makes it easier to feel fine. This is the photo I just shot (you can see me. Self portrait?) from the truck of the farm. Ahhh. Spring!


  

Communicating. Nerves. Orange Drink.

 

 

 

Who, reading this post, is afraid of getting up in front of a group of people and talking? What about if that group includes a panel of judges that will be scoring you on your talk- the content, progression, intro, conclusion, your manner of speaking, your appearance, your knowledge of the subject, etc.?

Who, reading the sentences above is too timid to even raise their hand? Sitting alone, at your computer...?

A few? Several? Most?

Talking in front of a crowd is tough. Doing it for the purpose of being judged? Tougher. So, I am so proud of my kids- two of my own, and more of my "4-H kids", who, last night, threw themselves into the ring and did so at the Pickaway County Communications Contest.

The contest is open to any 4-H'er in the county, of which there are 40 clubs with more than 700 members. I was extremely proud of our club having 5 members brave enough to "give it a go".

It started out with the Senior Demonstration/Illustrated Talk category. Eldest went second, and did an amazing job with her Illustrated Talk; "Congenital Heart Disease". I was so involved in the lecture-  you had to pay attention or be lost- I forgot to take her picture. But, she set the bar super high, even getting a perfect score from one of the judges.

Youngest led off the Junior Demonstration/Illustrated Talk category with his Demonstration on Letterboxing. I could tell he was nervous, but he hides it so well. Thorough, clear, funny, he did a wonderful job. Also achieving near perfect scores.

This is their second year in a row winning the county contest. I think there is a big "X" on his back now, as the one to beat! Eldest steps off the podium to go to college, and leaves at the top.



 

 

Senior winners!

 

After a huge stack of cookies and several cups of orange drink, the nerves are gone, but the sugar rush will last for hours.

Okay, a couple of words about this one. These are Saddle and Sirloin 4-H Club kids, 5 of whom are old enough to participate and speak. The three in the front are too young as of yet, but getting a road paved to do so. And, the main paver? The tall one on the right. These kids all look up to her, not just because she's really tall. Parents can only do so much. We have 70+ kids in our club and having a large group of strong teens - a group of whom we can be proud- is a real treasure.
As for the boy in the back, middle, holding up the blue ribbon? Well, the ribbon tells us "leader" the expression- not so much. He isn't a teen yet!

Cincinnati Day Trip- Ikea and Jungle Jims

Spring Break 2013 has come and gone. Mostly, it was a big yawn. My plan had been to garden and ride. That isn't too grand, right? Well, Mother Nature had different plans and started our spring break with snow and wind. We did get in a little riding toward the end of the week, and by the last weekend, we even got a work day outside! I scraped and painted the rose arbor, Huz and Eldest repaired the raised bed corners in the veggie garden (had I gardened the whole week, I might've been able to call it the potager- but, no).  Youngest washed his pony, and Middlest, did something. Well, she was productive, but I was at the rose arbor most of the day.
But, the highlight, probably, of our spring break for the family ( my highlight was painting the rose arbor and trimming the Zephrine Drouhin rose that climbs it) was a day trip to Cincinnati. After the morning barn chores, we headed southwest with a mission; Ikea. We got there after the sun came up, and before Ikea opened. We headed in for breakfast- I had tea, which FYI; was free before 9 am. But the family reports the breakfast was delish- cinnamon bun, biscuits and gravy, French toast, bacon, some almond pastry thing and Swedish apple drinks all for $12.00. Then, we collected a cart and were off! Main mission? Acquiring a few things for Eldest's impending dorm life. 4 hours later we checked out. Laden. Typical of me (I have my Mom's genetics on this one) I shop with the abandon of  one who drives a box truck. Without the box truck. But, I believe, and it only took about 15 minutes to pack the car with a wingback chair, ottoman, 6.5' wooden screen,  large cooler, Dave (the desk), a 5x7 rug, three Ikea bags of "stuff", and five people. We should've left the 8th seat at home, but hindsight and all... but in, we were. Now, off to destination #2.

 

Jungle Jims!

 

 

This is one, of the maybe 4? 5? Cheese aisles alone. I love cheese.

But now think over the top on anything...and they have it. 6 1/2 acres of food, beer, wine...

 

Huz and I went into the Humidor. If one was a cigar lover, this would be heaven. I am indifferent about cigars, but fascinated by the variety.

Huz through the Humidor window.

They have wine. OH, my, do they have wine. But they also have a VIP wine room. This photo is of some of the wines in the window of the darkened, temperature controlled, locked room. If you can make out the prices of these wines, they are, well, extravagant.  On the large card on the left is written "Jungle Jim's Record Sale June 14, 2008 (the name of the wine) Burgundy, France, $7999.99"  Youngest said to me "Mom, if you had that much money, you wouldn't buy wine, you would buy a horse." Smart kid.

With over 1500 hot sauces, they have a section that you have to sign a release to purchase a bottle.

There is a huge area of the store devoted to international foods. MMMM. Along one wall is a series of rooms, each dedicated to groceries from different European countries. We shopped Holland "hard".  Huz (whose father is Dutch) was happy to find Holland at Jungle Jims!

This is the India area. Bags and bags of spices and rices. In the background you can see Sherwood Forest- the British section.



 

The kids all got to choose something from the store to bring home to share. Eldest chose an enormous bag of fortune cookies from China. Middlest chose a loaf of sourdough bread about 18" in diameter, and Youngest, a granny smith apple, coated in caramel and M&Ms.

I chose a thing or two myself. Yep.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chasing the Coywolf to protect my Velociraptor.

This morning, as I hobbled back from the barn on my crutches, Julia at my side, I started calling for Tucker. Tucker does his rounds of the farm calmly each day, and I have to say, he doesn't strictly stick to the property line, but does go for a patrol of the creek north and sometimes south of our house. I think that is where the raccoon carcass arrived from this week as a lawn ornament. Thankfully, Huz took care of that.
So, I crutched and called. But, as I reached the brick patio, Tucker started calling back. His big "alarm bark" got our attention quickly. Julia turned her head sideways, ears pricked high, to tell where he was, then she was off like a shot. I was too! Well, I crutched quickly. Around the house, and there he was, in the back field, facing off about 20 feet from a critter that looked about his size. Maybe bigger. But this critter blended pretty well into the colors of the tilled field. When Julia came flying at the pair. The equation changed, and the perceived intruder loped off a bit. That was when I could instantly tell it was a coyote. They have a peculiar gate. Julia and Tucker came to my calls, and the coyote turned at the edge of the field and watched us. Now, that edge of the field is quite a distance, and still, I could see him there. Big. I have seen some big coyotes before, and then, regular size ones. But this guy seemed like a COUS (for you Princess Bride fans out there). That would be, "Coyotes Of Unusual Size".

I may, in the past, have written about the technique I employ for discouraging these guys from visiting my barn. I don't want to feed coyotes with my chickens, lambs, ducks or even my Velociraptors (geese) . So, I chase the coyote. On foot (on crutch?), I run directly at them, screaming loudly and wheeling my arms around in big circles. They usually run off a ways and then stop and turn around to see if I'm still in pursuit. I don't slow down, just charge right at them. This is crazy behavior. They are smart enough to recognize an unhinged animal, and don't stick around to see what happens next. But, after reading about my foe, I may have to reconsider my tactics.

 

So, a study outlined in the Royal Society Biology Letters, done by a couple of curators of mammals at the New York State Museum measured 196 skulls and took samples of 686 coyotes (dead ones).  The DNA evaluation revealed that the biggest specimens in the study were combinations of coyotes and wolves. It seems that the interbreeding began north of the Great Lakes, and then the population came down through western New York and Pennsylvania. The coywolves are indeed, large. And appear to be filling the void left when wolves were eradicated in these areas. And although I did not find the actual Letter, it seems that the DNA was 85-90% coyote, and then a smattering of wolf.

December 14,2010 a hunter kills a coyote in Jefferson City Mo. that weighs in at 104 lbs. Alarmed that he had mistakenly killed a wolf- protected species, he contacted the Missouri Department of Conservation which had the animal's DNA tested, and indeed, it was coyote.

March 23, 2010- A guy in Ohio spotted a coyote in a field about 200 yards from a school. He shot it. When he retrieved the body, he thought he had a really large coyote.  But state game protector, Brian Bury confirmed the animal was a wolf.  I will note, here that the article did not mention DNA testing, so I'm not sure how the confirmation was made, and if indeed it was genetically, all wolf. Still, I might think twice about chasing a wolf.

Discussion on Predator Talk  in 2010 by several folks revealed  word of mouth kills at 70 lbs, but most were in the 40-50 lb range for the biggest coyotes. One reply was by a guy who hunts down livestock predators for farmers. He got a coyote that had been killing calves by shooting it off the back of a cow. The coyote was 48 lbs.

America's New Wolf by Gene Letourneau was penned back in 1984. I have not read it. Amazon did not have any reviews by anyone who had either. But, a Facebook search revealed that Mr. Letourneau was (is?) a writer for "the Guy Gannet newspapers in Maine since 1929" I'm not sure if that means that Letourneau had been writing for these newspapers for 55 years when he wrote the book, or that the newspapers had been being written for 55 years. In any case, his book is about the Eastern Coyote, that had been recognized in Maine since the 1940s, and in 1984 had been moving through Pennsylvania. The Eastern coyote is a huge critter, and has wolf DNA. Maybe by 2013 Gene's Eastern Coyote is in my back field.