King of the Mountain

I don't know why, but cows like to climb to the tops of mountains.  I know it isn't just my cows.  Diane has experienced this behavior at her place a lot!  And as shown in the pictures, it isn't just the babies.  The big cows like it too.  There is nothing special about the dirt.  It's a couple of loads we had brought in to use in landscaping by the house.  Don't tell the cows...they think it's just for them!

Pretty Babies!

These pictures are of Lucky and Tex.  I caught these 2 boys soaking up some sun yesterday before the front blew in.  After the cold, wet, windy day we had today, I bet they were glad they caught a few rays while they had the chance.

                                                                                     

2009 ITLA Championship Show

We did it!  We went to the 2009 ITLA Championship Show and we came home winners!  Well, this is where I let you know, even if we had NOT won any awards, we always think our cows are winners! 

Abby Rose took 5th place in her Class.  She has shown several times in 2009 and has always won First in her Class.  I was surprised she only took 5th, but I have to admit the other heifers in this class had great horns.  Abby's mom (Freedom's Jitterbug) has great horns that didn't start getting big until this year.  So I am sure Abby's horns will get better as she gets older.  We love her!

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Next -  Baby Carol.  Her official name is Carol Suzanne APS and she was 2 in April.  She had her first calf, Travis, in August, 2009.  She showed when she was a baby and was usually in 3rd or 5th place.  She did ok, but not spectacular.  But yesterday, she won big time!  Her horns have really been growing this last season and she won First in her Class and then won Grand Champion - Senior Heifer.  That is AWESOME!  When I first got to the show yesterday, Danielle told me how great Carol looks and that in her opinion, Carol had the BEST chance of winning something.  Well, she was rightt!  I was completely blown away.  Her competition looked good, but she looked better.  She held herself so well and she just kicked it!  WOW!

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Now Twisty.  Strawberry Twist and her AI calf, Phancy.  She wins all the time.  First Place, Grand Champion of her class at Affiliate shows.  This year, she won First in her Class and Grand Champion - Junior Cow...and this was at the 2009 Championship Show!  How exciting is that!  I was so glad she won!  Carol was a surprise, but we count on Twist to win something big and she didn't let us down!  She always looks so good and she is very easy to handle when she is haltered up.  She is an Experienced Cow Show girl.  She just looked so beautiful and her little calf was a cute addition!

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Jim didn't get to go to the show this year.  He was missed!!  I sat with Jim and Diane Isbell and they helped me have an even BETTER time than I would have if I had been alone.  They are funny and lively and always have something interesting or funny to say!  We had a BLAST!  I didn't have to pull a trailer to the show to bring any of the Longhorns home because Danielle is bringing them out to me on Sunday.  I couldn't carry all of them in one trailer, but Danielle's trailer will haul them all.  So I made the trip in my new car!  That was neat.  I hadn't gotten to drive it much since I got it and I had never driven it in the dark.  It was awesome. The CD player has great sound and I listened to a CD put together for especially me by my friend Barbara in Hawaii.  It's a wonderful CD and I really enjoyed listening to it on my first big adventure.   I got GREAT gas mileage and it handles like a DREAM!  Thanks again Jim for the new car! 

Championship Cow Show!

Well, tomorrow is the ITLA Championship Show in Glen Rose.  I am very excited about it.  Jim doesn't get to go this year, but I will be there cheering on my cows.  I have several entered this year.  Baby Carol and her bull calf Travis, Strawberry Twist and her Phenomenon heifer Phancy, and my sweet little Abby Rose.  I am hoping we will win first in each of our classes.  This year, ITLA is giving a beautiful belt buckle for every First Place.  That would be awesome to win those.  And I am hopeful Twist will win something really big.  I am afraid to type it for fear it will jinx her but I would sure like it if she did.  This is Twist's last year to be a Junior Cow.  Next year she will have to compete with the Senior Cows and there will be a lot of awesome competition.  I don't want to show her after this year, so I wish she would win...ok....I am going to be brave and type it outloud..."Grand Champion - All Age Female".  Last year, Danielle's cow Morning Glory won and they both deserved it.  Twist has won Grand Champion - Junior Cow a couple of times...but I would LOVE to have the big one.  Twist would like it too.  She is ready to retire from the show ring and that would be a GREAT way to go out!

Baby Carol always does pretty well when she shows and this is her first year to have a calf at side.  Her horns aren't that long, but they are so thick at the base...and she is such a pretty girl and her calf Travis is already starting to roan out...so I think they have a chance at first place..who knows, though, at Convention!  Then there is Abby. She is the sweetest girl in the world.  I love her!  Her mother is Jitter (Freedom's Jitterbug) and Jitter is my all time favorite cow.  Rainey is really close as a runner up, but Jitter still holds a really special place in my heart.  And then she had her first calf, Abby Rose, and I adore her.  She loves to give kisses and she comes when she is called (ok...if she is already walking your way and you call her name, it makes it look like she came when you called her).  During the early part of the 2009 show year, Abby won several First in Class.  I would like her to win tomorrow, too. She has pretty good horn growth for her age, but there are a lot of contestants at Convention that don't show during the year and she may not win...but she will always be a winner in my heart. 

During the year, when we were showing Abby, we also showed Rainey's bull calf, Danny Boy.  He won First in his class and Grand Champion Jr. Bull every time he showed.  We were going to show him at tomorrow's show, but we sold him about a month ago.  Danny Boy went to a ranch in Coleman to be the herd sire...and that makes me Happy!

Anyway...here are a couple of pictures of Twist and Carol from the 2008 show...and my favorite picture of Abby, when she was quite a bit younger plus a picture of Jitter and Abby from the 2008 show.

Here Danielle is holding Twist and Raelynn is holding Trey, the calf.

Here is Carol. She was still a heifer in this shot and not yet bred!

Here is Jitter and Abby.  Abby was just a "calf at side" and this year, when she gets home from Convention she is going to get bred by Charmer.

And finally, here is my favorite pic of Abby...giving good Kisses!

She was such a baby in this picture.  What a precious girl she is!

Bad Hair Day.

I have a lot of hair.  It is thick and coarse and when I was a little kid it was curly.  Now it is just thick and coarse. I don't mean to complain about it because I wouldn't want the alternative but still, it is hard to get a good style on it when it gets a little longer...and all that thick stuff refuses to submit when I am using a hair dryer on full blast and roughing it up all over my head trying to get it dry.  Anyway, I decided yesterday I would get a trim and style. The reasoning for this is:  I am sure my cow, Strawberry Twist, is going to win some grand award at tomorrow's ITLA Championship Show in Glen Rose, Texas, and I am certain they are going to want to take my picture with this award winning cow and I want to look my best.  So I called my hair lady in Brownwood and she got me right in.  (sometimes that is a bad sign...)

I told her I am wanting to get it thinned and trimmed a little for tomorrow...and I am going to try and let it grow out a little, too.  I always like my hair really, really short.  I think that is how I look best.  However, my D-I-L and her mom told me I actually look a little better (not good, mind you) with a little more hair.  I thought..well, I can try that.  So here we go with the thin, trim, style, shape, but let it get longer plan.  Anyway, my hair lady and I had different opinions of the shape.  Evidently her idea was the football helmet shape.  Not quite what I was hoping for.  Also, when she cuts my bangs, her method is this:  wet them, comb them straight down, hold them down with one hand and cut them with the other.  That works great!  And it looks great too, until you let go of the bangs and one side boings up and the other side doesn't.  That's okay.  When I got home, I trimmed them up.  Then, I put the No. 8 guard on the electric razor and went to work on the football helmet.  After a few razoo's I had successfully eliminated the helmet shape.  Now the only thing wrong was the part right above my ears.  On the right side (my right) it was nice and smooth. On the left side it was all choppy. After studying this for a while I decided I would leave that part alone.  To my eye, the only solution would be to chop up the smooth side and I decided I would pass on that.  So...now there was only one thing wrong with it.  Now it is SHORT! Okay..not as short as sometimes, but shorter than "I am letting my hair grow out".   So..who knows.  I don't like hair. It makes my head sweat and I hate that, but this winter I should get a reprieve from that.  But, I guess once you chop off your bangs and re-do your football helmet all that is left is short hair.  Que Cera Cera'.   I am attaching a picture of the new short (I am growing out my hair) hair. You can see the choppy side on the right...but, oh well.  Also, when did my pores get so big?  I mean....really?  There were little villages in some of them.  I made the picture a little smaller so as not to frighten any small children who might accidently happen upon this blog.  AND it's early and I don't look my best...

anyway...squint your eyes and I don't look so bad!  Well, that was a lie...I look scarey..but I am pretty harmless.