Sheep Show

Well, Josh and I got to experience something new this weekend! Ruth had her first sheep shows on Friday and Saturday, so Josh and I headed to watch on Saturday morning. I hadn't ever actually seen a sheep show, so I had no idea what I was in for! The picture isn't from the show, because I forgot my camera, but those are the infamous sheeps at Ruth's graduation party. Apparently, at a sheep show, you have to walk the sheep around this ring, then make them "stand pretty" (I think that's called bracing in sheep terms) while the judge watches. The catch is, you can't have any type of halter on them and sheep don't really learn to "heel" like a dog (no dog I've ever owned, but I hear there are dogs that will do that). So you have to grab the sheep by the head, with one hand under their chins and one hand behind their ears and drag them around hunched over them. Needless to say, I did not envy Ruth and Stephanie as they drug their sheep around the ring! But Ethel and Alice were pretty well behaved for them, all things considered! There was one poor kid who was barely taller than his sheep, and the sheep got away and was bounding around the ring, running over other people and their sheep. It was actually pretty entertaining! The whole event was surprisingly entertaining, actually, and I'm sure Josh and I will get to see a few more sheep shows before this summer is over! It was a little weird, though, because after the judge picked the winners, he talked about each of the sheep and why he'd put them where he put them. But it wasn't like a dog show, where they talk about how well-behaved they were or what pretty fur the dogs have. Instead, the judge says things like "this sheep will really hang a good carcass" or "when you get your hands on it, there's a lot of meat on that sheep." So it was a bit disturbing! But fun anyway!

Other than the sheep show, Josh and I made it a point to NOT DO ANYTHING all day Saturday. Well, actually, that's not really true at all. We made it a point to not leave our house. Instead we stayed around here and worked. Josh put together my hammock (his birthday present to me) and the grill his groomsmen got us as a wedding present (3 years later) and we did some cleaning and unpackng, and decided where we're going to put furniture in the spare bedroom (we have WAY too much furniture in that room, but that could be because I have ridiculous amounts of books), and where we're going to hang pictures (we ran out of time for the actual hanging). We also broke in the new grill by cooking an awesome summer meal... we had chicken legs, Mom's potatoes, corn on the cob, and homemade ice cream with strawberries and peaches. So it was a wonderful day to just get things done, the house is much cleaner, and it's nice to have the grill and hammock put together. It was a weekend off that was much needed and we enjoyed it and each other! Now it's back to the busy-every-weekend life we're used to! :)