Horsin' around

A few weeks back, I was looking for something fun and relaxing to do after a stressful week.  I heard that the Iowa State Fairgrounds was hosting the World Percheron Congress.  I've been fascinated with draft horses ever since I met a couple of Clydesdale owners from north Iowa a couple years ago.  They told me how much time, money and work goes into raising giant draft horses.  Now I have a newfound respect for these amazing animals and their dedicated owners.

Percherons are such graceful giants.  And so stylish in black :)

Love the little details of getting a horse ready for show.  It's like they are dressing for prom.

The wagons are also kept in prestine condition for the show ring.  Great to see a pink ribbon on the back of this ride.

Young contestants were preparing for the junior exhibit when I arrived.

The event took place in the beautiful new Jacobsen Exhibit Hall at the Iowa State Fairgrounds.  The hall was built specifically to bring world-class horse shows to central Iowa.

I stood outside on the sidewalk to watch the blue-ribbon winners take their victory lap.

I watched some of the judging during the junior show.  Unfortunately, I had to leave earlier than I wanted because of an unexpected allergy attack.  (Somehow, I always forget that I'm allergic to hay.) 

I'm looking forward to seeing more horse shows at the fairgrounds in the future.

Dog-gone fun

For the record, it is really, really, really hard to take photos of dogs.

These doggies didn't want to stand still.  There was way, way too much excitement at the Central Iowa Pet Expo at the State Fairgrounds in Des Moines.  This pooch was sporting purple to celebrate the occassion. (I'm not sure why she was purple, by the way.)

It would be great to adopt a dog, but my hubby and I have decided against it.  We're both away from home too much, and we don't like the idea of caging a dog outside or inside while we are gone.  We both grew up on farms, so we think dogs should be free to roam.

But...maybe someday we might give in a get a little lap dog.  They can be so friendly and adorable.

The Pet Expo has become an annual tradition for my sister and I.  My sister has always loved animals.  When we were little girls growing up on the farm, she spent all her time outside playing with the cats and dogs in our farmyard. 

Now my sister has a house cat, and she loves to buy her little toys.  She bought a hand-made pet pillow for $15 at the Expo this year.  She called me as soon as she got home to tell me that her cat loved the pillow.  Best $15 she ever spent :)

Grandpas are special

My family got together for the Labor Day weekend.  My cousins, who both live out of state, were back home. So you know what that means -- lots and lots of family pictures.

We listened to our grandpa tell stories about his early days on the farm.  One of my favorite stories is his recollection of his first tractors.

Grandpa said he bought his first tractor, an International Harvester (in Iowa, you're either a 'red' family or a 'green' family, depending on your inclination towards John Deere or Case-IH tractors), back in the late 1930s.  The tractor cost him $700, some of which he had to borrow from his dad.  He paid an extra $25 to equip his first tractor with lights and an electric (rather than a hand-crank) start.

My grandpa says he bought his second tractor during WWII.  (My grandpa wasn't sent to war because he had to take care of the farm after his dad passed away.)  One day, he saw a tractor at a nearby railroad depot.  He asked where the tractor was headed, and they told him it was going to a dealer a few miles down the tracks.  So my grandpa drove to the dealer and asked if he could buy the tractor.  And the dealer had no idea what granpda was talking about -- they weren't expecting to receive another tractor.

Eventually, my grandpa made arrangements to buy the tractor, but he had to get permission from the county rationing board to equip the tractor with rubber wheels (instead of the standard steel wheels).  The rationing board approved his request, but as my grandpa says, "It may have helped that my uncle was on the board."  Grandpa always says that last line with a mischevious grin.

Hope you don't mind that I'm sharing a family story with you.  I wanted to write it down while it was still fresh in my mind.  I'm very proud of my grandpa and all the work he did on the farm to provide for our family.  I'll always be thankful for the opportunity he gave me to be a little girl growing up on the farm.

Storm stories

I woke up to lightening and thunder last night.  I usually try to ignore the late-night storms, pull the covers over my head and go back to sleep.  But this one got my attention.  I could hear the wind rattling the windows.  And then I heard another big gust of wind, and my bed shook.  Seriously.  So I figured that was a sign that I should head for the basement.

The tornado sirens weren't blaring, which was a good sign.  But, boy, was the wind blowing.  I tried to turn on the TV to see the weather report, but then the power briefly went out.  After the wind died down and I felt safe the worst was over, I went back up to bed.  The clock read 2:45 a.m.  Ugh!

I woke up at 8:30 a.m. and took a camera on my Sunday morning run.  I was disappointed to see my garden flattened to the ground.  A few of the glads were snapped off.

My favorite coneflower and a pepper plant were horizontal.

But then when I checked out the rest of the neighborhood.  I realized how lucky we were not to have any branches -- or tree limbs -- in our yard.

Trees were snapped in half.  One of my neighbors was hosing off big blobs of mud stuck to the siding of her house.  I saw trees on top of houses and on top of vans.  And, creepily, I had to avoid stepping on a few dead birds that must have got shaken from the trees.  Yikes.

Yep, that tree fell on top of a house.  Like I said, we were lucky.  Now the sun is out, and there is absolutely no breeze outside.  It's amazing how peaceful nature is after a storm.

Wordless Wednesday: Signs of spring