The 79th Annual Kansas Junior Livestock Show is
taking place this weekend at the Kansas Coliseum. When I was in 4-H this was
always one of my favorite livestock shows in the state. It is like the State
Fair in a sense that you have all of the species at one show, but much more
relaxed and with cooler weather. I still enjoy going to the KJLS every year to
watch kids show pigs they bought from my family and hang out with friends. This
past May my dad’s sisters were going through my grandparents’ old photos and
gave us a bunch of old pictures of my dad when he was a kid, some of my
brother, sister and I with our cousins when we were little and a lot of other
random pictures. My favorite picture in the whole pile was this one of my dad
from 1965 with his Hereford steer at the KJLS. I find it so interesting how
much times have changed since he was a kid. For example, steers back then had
really short legs and I just think that is the silliest looking thing ever. We
use shavings now instead of straw, he isn’t using a show stick (did he use one
at all? I should ask him.), and then there’s his outfit. It is very vintage and
western. I think it’s cool though. I’d probably wear it today. It also makes me
think about what it was like at livestock shows back then. Probably more simple
and relaxed, but still competitive I’m sure.
Another reason this picture caught my attention so much is
that I had no idea he used to show at the KJLS, too! I don’t remember ever
seeing pictures of my dad showing cattle or pigs before we found these photos
and he rarely ever talks about things he did back then. The only stories I’ve
ever really heard are short versions about all the mischievous things he used
to do at the State Fair. Back when the kids all slept in the barn at night with
the animals and from the minimal stories I’ve heard, it doesn’t sound like much
sleeping was going on. Sometimes I think it would be fun to just sit down and
go through old pictures and listen to the stories behind them and see what my
dad and other family members used to look like. I don’t really have a whole lot
to say other than that. I mostly just wanted to share this cool picture and why
I think it is so cool.
I think
most of you have met my dog, Mary, at least once before. She’s a 24-pound,
tri-colored, Pembroke Welsh Corgi, a product of the Crow Ranch in Holt, MO.
Mary has many aliases including Wiggles, Waddles, Wig, Wiggy, Dart, Snuggles,
Speedy and my brother-in-law calls her Smelly, but she does not answer to that.
Mary is a very interesting little dog. I honestly think that she believes she
is a human sometimes, except that she does have a few canine traits in her. 1)
She absolutely loves walks and will sniff and pee on something every five feet
during them. 2) She despises baths and even hides under the kitchen table when
I get “her towel” out. 3) She enjoys eating pig poop on the farm. 4) She has a
natural hatred toward cats, bunnies and squirrels. In fact, she will sit and
stare out of the sliding glass door all day long, just looking into the back
yard, protecting her territory from the neighborhood menaces.
Since I
have floor length curtains hanging over the door, Mary must sneak behind them
in order to see out the door. Sometimes she hides herself so well that I cannot
find her and eventually, after calling her name several times and wandering
throughout the house searching for her, she’ll finally poke her head out from
around the curtain as if to say “Mom, seriously. Can’t you see I’m busy? What
do you want?”
Can you
find her behind the curtains? She’s in there somewhere. I promise.
There
she is!
Every
time she does this it makes me think about the “man behind the curtain” scene
in the Wizard of Oz. Pay no attention
to that dog behind the curtain! And then I imagine her saying to the bunnies and
squirrels who dare venture into her yard; “I am Mary! The great and powerful
corgi! I know why you’ve come! You want to dig holes in my yard and nibble on
my mom’s flowers! I have every intention of granting your wishes, but first you
must prove yourself worthy by performing a very small task.” Then, the bunnies
and squirrels reply, “A small task? That’s all? You name it and it’s half
done!” And Mary says, “Bring me the chew stick of the pit bull next door!” The
bunnies and squirrels gasp, “But we would have to kill him to get it!” Mary
shouts, “Bring me the chew stick and I’ll grant your requests! Now go!”
That’s
where my imagination stops. I don’t want to think about what would happen to
the bunnies and squirrels who dare venture into the pit bulls’ yard.
This past April I signed my life away and bought my first
home! I found out it is quite an exciting, yet pretty scary step for a
25-year-old (at the time), single gal. But I wouldn’t undo it even if I could.
I’m so happy to finally have a place I can call my home again after living in
apartment after apartment for about eight years! So, this whole summer I’ve
been very busy nesting and trying to do some DIY remodeling.
Then, the other
day, while I was working out some frustrations in the garage on some trim from
my bedroom that I should have just left alone a few months back, my older (not
always wiser) sister, Kim, said I should be blogging about my home makeover
experiences. Brilliant! Why didn’t I think of that 4 months ago?! Then I
thought, hmm I am going to have to take pictures now. . How am I going to remember to stop and take pictures when I’m hard at
work? Well, we’ll see how that goes I guess, but I am going to try my best. Now,
the correct thing for me to do would be to go back and blog about everything
I’ve done around the house to date. I am not sure how I feel about spending
time doing that. After all, I have a lot of work yet to do! I can’t be spending
all of my time on the computer. But what I will do for ya’ll is give a little
overview of what I have done and share some before and after pictures.
And, to
bring you up to speed on what I’ve done so far in the past four months… I moved
in mid-April, perfect time for yard work and gardening, which my home needed a
lot of! The previous owners left me with a bare slate to start with, but that
also meant the soil had not been worked with in more than 10 years! Special
thanks go out to my brother-in-law, Doug, for tilling it up for me. My mom,
Debra, and Kim spent one entire weekend trying to help me plant flowers, but it
was just my luck that we would have (officially) the hottest summer in history in Wichita this year and practically
everything ended up brown and crispy except for the begonias! They must really
be a miracle plant. My list of plants to buy for 2012: begonias, begonias and
begonias. I wish I had some fabulous “After” pictures to show you for the
garden, but it didn’t end up that great for my first year. I do love mums
though and it is that time of year now, so maybe I’ll try to plant some of
those for fall and get some pretty pictures of that.
While sprucing up the yard
and garden last April, I also learned real fast that a leaf blower/vac is going
to be a must-have tool for me this fall. With the help of Doug and Kim, (again,
more thanks to them) I picked up 10 gigantic black bags of leaves out of my
front yard that the previous owner left for me! I got a nasty note from the
trash man that week. Sorry trash man, I didn’t know there was a limit to how
many bags I can throw out each week. I do now, though!
As for the interior of
the home, a lot of what I’ve done so far is just cleaning, painting and trying
to decorate so it feels like my home. I am slowly getting there. Better Homes
and Gardens magazine isn’t lying when it says a new paint color can totally
change a room’s appearance! As you may have guessed from an earlier comment, I
am currently in the process of trying to paint some trim. I initially was going
to replace the 50-year-old, original trim with something fresh and new, but
then I realized how much it’d cost me so I’ve opted to paint it for now, but
not until after I’d already removed all of the trim from my bedroom! It is all
Kim’s fault! I just had to throw that out there. So yes, now I have to put that
trim BACK! Chalk it up to experience I guess. I will now know how to remove and
install trim properly.
But, my biggest challenge, and the one I can’t wait to
finish, is to redo my entire bathroom! I’m so blessed to have a dad who
literally knows how to do anything and everything. My mom is pretty
handy with
a set of tools, too. Just make sure you hide the duct tape before you
turn her
loose on anything. He and my mom are planning on coming to visit during
Thanksgiving weekend to help me with this task. Wish us luck. Also, I
would
gladly entertain any advice or ideas that ya’ll might have for me! So
please
don’t be shy.
Now as promised, here are some pictures...
Living room before
Living room before
Living room after
Living room after
Living room after
Bonus Picture! Mary, the "rug rat"
dining room before
Dining room after (this is also Mary's favorite space so don't mind her kennel in the back corner)
Dining room after
Dining room after
I welcome any ideas or suggestions if anyone would like to share! Thanks!
