Winning Ribbons

As a kid I loved movies and books where kids went to the fair and won ribbons for projects they did and animals they raised.  Now that I'm an adult I hold this secret dream of winning a ribbon for the best jam in the county.  There's just something amazingly rewarding about that little strip of dolled up ribbon that tells us that we've done something well.  It's a statement piece that declares we've been approved.

Three goats and I attended the Michigan Fiber Festival in Allegan, Michigan.  I've wanted to go there and show animals for quite a while.  It took an enormous amount of work to prepare for the festival, to raise my goats, to groom them, to pack the camper!

My big reasonable goal was to win a third place ribbon -- the least glamorous of all.

Here's Sweet Pea (in the foreground), she won a third place ribbon in the senior doe division of the pygora goat show.  A ribbon!

This little darling pygora goat is Delphinium, Phin for short. He won third place in the junior buckling category.  A ribbon!

This beautiful girl is Poppy.  Our herd name is "The Price Bouquet" therefore the bulk of our goats are named for flowers -- we have a bouquet of goats instead of a herd.

She won first place in the second sub-category of young does, then won first prize among all young does and then, was awarded Reserve Grand Champion among all does. We won ribbons!

I was shocked, floored, bowled over and so totally delighted that three of my goats were recognized as an example of what the breed should look like. 

Now, I feel like I'm a legitimate goat herder.  It's good to know that we've been doing some things correctly in raising healthy, good quality goats.