Well, we survived our first pig rodeo with much success, less pigs than I would have liked to see but oh well I guess. About half of our kids brought pigs (we have 19 total including our FFA kids), and hopefully next time we will have more. We have some light ones and some heavier ones already (pigs that is), and it'll be interesting to see how those weights progress throughout the summer. It's great now (for me at least) to have kids who were once-upon-a-time "new kids" that are now veterans in the show and dieting business of swine because I don't have to hover and babysit them quite as much. I love some of the colors of pigs the kids got this year. Lots more hampshire black and whites than usual, and some fantastic hamp/landrace/duroc crosses with fun coloring. Love those ones! Pictures next time, I was too focused on getting the kids set this first time.
In the medical life of Rachel, my annual eye exam a few weeks ago led to a second follow up exam with special tests, leading to a blood test and MRI. Having never had an MRI before I was a little bit skeptical, but I survived! My aunt told me stories about her experiences, but she's a bit more claustrophobic than I am, so I got set and then just closed my eyes. The best part was trying to make things of the crazy loud noises....while in the machine I experienced an earthquake, listened to the piano play scales multiple times, heard the wind blowing lots, and a drum beating on my head. I got the results from the eye doctor yesterday and everything came back normal, so we've made no progress diagnosing anything, but at least there's nothing to worry about brain-wise.
We finally got started haying this week! The big rain storm came Saturday and then things got hot and muggy for this area. Our lovely E-burg wind came to life on Tuesday and really started getting things dried out, so that helped tremendously. The boys have been baling and picking things up non-stop since Tuesday afternoon, and today finished up early enough to actually enjoy the evening. So now rather than over half of our crop being on the ground, there's just less than half of the crop on the ground dry and ready to be baled.
In the midst of all this I'm preparing to take 4-H kids to California as a part of our test run of a 4-H exchange. Last spring I worked with someone from California whose mom is a leader of a club in northern California, and she approached us about coming down this year. Next year we'll have the opportunity to host them here! We leave tomorrow morning at 7 am, travel to the Oregon Caves to take a candle-lit tour of the caves then to Grants Pass for the night. Saturday morning we'll pick things up and head through the Redwoods on our way to Corning, which is our destination for the week! We have lots of exciting things to see and do, and then will head home on Wednesday, with a detour to Crater Lake. It should be a good time all-around, and I'm excited to hang out with the kids even if it means an early 4th of July.
Right now I'm waiting for Dad to finish his chores so we can change the oil in my car and then I can head to a friend's for a little while before coming home to load the car and sleep in prep for tomorrow's trip!
Enjoy your 4th everyone!
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