One of my favorite things every year at our party is seeing the children enjoy the animals. The animals really enjoy the children, too. They hardly knew which way to turn with cookies coming from every direction.
It was Clover’s favorite day ever.
I’m in love with the princess costume. I think I should get one for when I go milking!
The animals are always the hit of the party, for both young and old.
The attention was almost too much for Casper. He played dead.
Inside the house, there was a lot of food going on.
I turned the dining room table sideways to I could fit a second table in the dining room.
There was more good food than you could shake a stick at.
A whole table of desserts.
It was so much fun to have a houseful of people.
People spilling out onto the porch.
Georgia, with one of our BBB donors, CB in TN. (I made Georgia wear a name tag with an exclamation point at the end of Georgia. She was baffled by the number of people who knew who she was and told her how wonderful she is. Thank you!)
The eating and talking and eating went on for some time.
It’s always wonderful to meet so many of you and see your faces.
On the back porch, I had some of the same displays set up that I took to Heritage Days at the little school in town, and we also had a couple of demonstrations back there. Dede (aka wvhomecanner and one of my moderators on the forum as well as an admin on Farm Bell Recipes) demonstrated steam juicing.
I also had a butter-making demonstration and people enjoyed tasting the freshly-made butter with crackers.
Back inside, CindyP gave a soapmaking demonstration.
Evidence that I was at the party:
A crowd gathered for the Beulah Petunia milking. (Blurry picture taken while I was herding BP up from the hinterlands.)
I think a crowd should gather every time I milk BP. It would be so encouraging!
I said come one, come all, and milk Beulah Petunia!
I like to get other people to do my chores.
Only I didn’t have many takers on the milking. I think they wanted to watch me milk BP! What is up with that? I’ll have to send a stern memo with next year’s party emails. After milking, we retired to the house for door prizes, with prizes and numbers called out by Morgan and another teenager in attendance.
Door prizes included CITR 2011 calendars, BBBs, homemade soap, home-canned goodies, a handmade bird feeder, a hand-crafted table from Twiggity Rusticks, homemade potato soup mixes, and a hand-stitched pillow. (Many of the door prizes were donated.)
At the end of the evening, the teenagers beat each other with noodles in the driveway.
And I got a three-year-old to help me put the chickens up.
And that’s another party on the farm!
Thank you to Jerry, who always comes to my parties and takes pictures for me (some of the photos in this post are his). Thank you to Lisa deGruyter who brought a dulcimer to play during the party. And thank you and thank you again and again to CindyP, Natalie Cyphers, and Dede (wvhomecanner), who came ahead of time to help and stayed till Sunday. We had a little after-party on the porch with banana rum, which might partially explain my sluggishness yesterday.
And despite the fact that I didn’t cook any of the food, for some strange reason, the next morning, my kitchen looked like this:
But it was all more than worth it.
The most extra special thanks of all to those of you who came to the party, from near and far, from down the road and a number of different states.
I’ll see you next year!
P.S. For those of you who weren’t there, I’m giving away party door prizes on the Daily Farm page all day today, and I’ve also got a couple more party-related posts in the works–more details about the fabulous lavender and basil soap made at the party, and thanks to Jack’s former owners (who attended the party), I’m growing mushrooms. More about that soon!
Karen B says:
:chicken: Sigh – it sounds so wonderful! Waiting for more pictures and stories. You know, those of us who couldn’t attend want to hear lots of details!!
On October 4, 2010 at 1:20 am
Nancy says:
It looks like a GREAT party! And if I’m right, it also appears that all those dishes in the sink and on the cupboard, are CLEAN! 😉
Lavender/Basil soap, huh? I’d never think to mix those two scents. I did want to thank you for planting the seed in my head of making soap! I made my first batch a week ago and made my fourth batch today! 😉
You didn’t mention how fun and addictive it is…
My last three blog posts are all my first batch of crock pot soap.
On October 4, 2010 at 1:47 am
Nancy in Iowa says:
It looks wonderful! How sad I am that I couldn’t be there – maybe one day I will! I know Clover and all the goats enjoyed the attention – what about the sheep? What did GB think of the strange people? You are wonderful to host such a magnificent event, and blessed with some mighty fine friends!
On October 4, 2010 at 2:43 am
Rose H says:
Wow! What a fabulous day – and such a spread! :hungry:
What a lot of hard work for you and your wonderful helpers, but repaid a thousand fold by the smiles on your guests faces. :pinkbunny:
I’m sure you deserved a slower day yesterday. :yes:
Has Clover and her fellow farm friends recovered form all that snacking too? 😆
On October 4, 2010 at 4:27 am
lauren says:
Looks like yall had so much fun and full bellies, that was quite a spread!!! 😀
On October 4, 2010 at 6:09 am
Denise says:
I would have LOVED to be there!!!! Maybe one day I’ll be able to make it!
On October 4, 2010 at 6:37 am
diana in jax says:
i would have LOVED to milk BP. the dogs look very interested, or maybe they hoped someone would shot milk their way! i sure hope i can make it to one of the parties! i’ll be checking for more pictures. :wave:
On October 4, 2010 at 6:48 am
glenda says:
Suzanne, that is a generous thing…sharing your farm with all the people. I know they had a wonderful time.
Beulah is a special cow……….my Willow would be on the back 40 by the time all those strange people showed up……..and she would never ever let down her milk.
Looks like you had perfect weather for the party.
On October 4, 2010 at 6:50 am
northcountrygirl says:
Wow! What a great day! I wish I could have been there. Looks like everyone enjoyed themselves and had a good time. I’m glad it all worked out. I’ll bet Clover was really happy…cookies galore!
On October 4, 2010 at 7:06 am
Becky says:
Glad your party turned out successful!
Looks like there were more people this year than last. Yay!!
On October 4, 2010 at 7:17 am
Melinda says:
Looks like everyone had a great time! Next year I hope I can come too!
On October 4, 2010 at 7:24 am
Runningtrails says:
Sounds like it went very well! I know how much work that kind of thing can be! I wish I could go to your parties, but good pics help a lot.
On October 4, 2010 at 7:41 am
Myrna Mackenzie says:
Suzanne, it looks like the party was great fun. I love the photo of Casper!
On a different note, is there any chance you can put the calendar back on the front page? I’m lost without it (I know I can get there by clicking through to another page, but on the days when I have a lot of work ahead of me, I have to get my Chickens fix quickly).
Anyway, so glad that you had another fantastic party! Wish I lived closer.
On October 4, 2010 at 8:20 am
Suzanne McMinn says:
Myrna, yes, I’ll put it back there! I didn’t think anyone used it there. I’ll put it back right now.
On October 4, 2010 at 8:41 am
Angela says:
Hey Suzanne!
Just wanted to let you know that we had a wonderful time at your party! The kids enjoyed seeing all of the animals. :chicken: :cowsleep: :sheep: :happypuppy: The food was incredible! :hungry: The people were extremely friendly. :snuggle: I LOVED your porch! :yes: My son loved Boomer! :happypuppy: He asked if he could take him home! :snoopy:
If anyone is interested in seeing a few pictures I took at the party you can go here https://wvtreasures.blogspot.com/2010/10/our-trip-to-citrp.html
Angela :wave:
On October 4, 2010 at 8:21 am
Suzanne McMinn says:
I love your pictures, Angela!
On October 4, 2010 at 8:44 am
Betty Holcomb says:
Suzanne, what a fun day I had along with my husband and father-in-law (who BOTH won door prizes Thanks!) I can’t stop talking about it and expecially milking! It was more fun that I could have imagined. Thanks for sharing your Farm Fun with us.
Betty Holcomb
On October 4, 2010 at 8:22 am
Carol says:
Looks as though your party was a great success with plenty of down home fun (and food). It was nice to see you in the “photo” flesh, Suzanne. I wish I could have been there.
On October 4, 2010 at 8:25 am
marymac says:
WOW!! It sure looks like everyone had a great time, and how brave you were to open your house up for so many people. Girl, looks like you know how to party! That little princess looked adorable!
On October 4, 2010 at 8:38 am
ladybird_1959 says:
Wish I could have been there. Looks like everyone had a great time. What a surprise when I noticed a guy that I work with in one of the pictures! Maybe next year I will make plans to come. This year I was at Carter Caves in KY.
On October 4, 2010 at 8:59 am
Elvira says:
great, really great!!
I love your pictures und all those good things I may have a look :duck:
On October 4, 2010 at 9:37 am
Linda Goble says:
Oh how i wish I could of been there. Some day I will come. It certainly looked like a lot of fun :snoopy: . I am sure people really appreciated all your guys hard work. I hope you get well rested this week. Thanks for posting pictures. :happyflower:
On October 4, 2010 at 10:01 am
Myrna Mackenzie says:
Suzanne, thank you so much! I hope you have a great (and restful) day after all the excitement of the weekend.
On October 4, 2010 at 10:04 am
Miss Becky says:
From the photos it’s apparent that a good time was had by all. thanks for sharing. I love the princess costume! and my favorite photo is “people spilling out onto the back porch”. beautiful. :yes:
On October 4, 2010 at 10:14 am
morningstar says:
You are such a brave woman to host this wonderful party each year!
And I’m sure you don’t even want to think about next year, but is the party always the same weekend (first Sat. in October)? I would have loved to be there but unfortunately have to schedule my weekends off waaaay in advance. If you could give a little more advance notice maybe some of us from farther away could also attend.
On October 4, 2010 at 10:23 am
Suzanne McMinn says:
morningstar, it’s always either in September or October, but not always the same weekend. I’ll try to announce it further in advance next year!
On October 4, 2010 at 10:32 am
michell says:
Great party!
On October 4, 2010 at 10:33 am
Diane says:
Love love all the pictures, cant wait to see more. (Especially of Missy’s hair. hint hint) The children are so precious, sorry Clover. Any didn’t Clover participate in the milking?
On October 4, 2010 at 10:41 am
Ramona says:
Luv the pictures and it sounds like your party was a huge success. So nice to have great friends and family to have a wonderful gathering like yours.
On October 4, 2010 at 10:52 am
Karo says:
Growing mushrooms, eh? I hope they aren’t the funny kind.
I’m so glad you all had a good time but so sad I couldn’t come. I’m curious, Suzanne. How many people did come? It looks like a healthy crowd!
And thanks for putting the calendar back on the front page. I use it to make sure I haven’t missed any posts (because I’m addicted to this blog).
On October 4, 2010 at 11:02 am
Suzanne McMinn says:
There were between 70 and 80 people here, best I can tell!
On October 4, 2010 at 11:10 am
Barbee' says:
Hi Suzanne. Do you have a final total of how many people were there???? If it gets any bigger, you may have to break it in two days, think you could live through 2 days of it?! 😀 I think you did some good planning holding the party back-to-back with Heritage Day. Do you know the weight load your porch is engineered for? I have heard of people’s decks crashing during a party from overload. I watched the weather report for your area all day and it looked perfect, and in your photos everyone looks as if they are having a wonderful time. You are such a great sport for doing this for your readers.
On October 4, 2010 at 11:08 am
Jessica says:
Look at all the fun that was had! Almost felt like I was there. :sun:
On October 4, 2010 at 11:14 am
Jason says:
Had a great time. Mom and dad are already asking about next year! They have some door prize donation ideas in mind! So glad we came out and got to meet you! Here’s my pictures…I’ve opened the facebook album up to “everyone”.
https://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=44774&id=100000162429418&l=d002aa9de2
On October 4, 2010 at 11:20 am
Shirley T says:
Suzanne, Thanks for sharing your photos of the farm party. I loved looking at them and wishing I could have been there. I was praying the weather would be good for the party, and so it was. Everyone looked so happy. Loved the photo of the two girls on the swing. Your wrap around porch is to die for, I have always wanted one. looking forward to more pics of the farm party.
On October 4, 2010 at 11:35 am
Barbee' says:
Hey Jason! A Big thank you for all those photos. You did a good job of showing wide views of the place and all the animals – wonderful shots. I went to your album, clicked on number one to enlarge it, then enlarged my screen (F11 key), then all I had to do was click on “next” and the show began. Really enjoyed it! Glad I could enlarge them, otherwise couldn’t have seen much.
On October 4, 2010 at 12:00 pm
Kim W says:
OH MAN! I am SO jealous! My PC was down for a while…how can I secure an invitation for next year? Where does everyone stay?
So glad you had fun.
Blessings from Ohio…Kim<
On October 4, 2010 at 12:44 pm
Vicki in So. CA says:
Looks like a COMPLETE SUCCESS! :snoopy: I especially love the picture or Casper! A fun party for the adults, but an especially great experience for the children who attended. And the three year old helping to put the chickens up – priceless.
On October 4, 2010 at 12:51 pm
Vicki in So. CA says:
That’s …picture OF Casper… Sorry ’bout that.
On October 4, 2010 at 12:52 pm
Senta Sandberg says:
I love the picture of Coco happily watching the milking demo. So happy to have all the visitors.
On October 4, 2010 at 1:42 pm
Sally Ann says:
Awww…. I would love to have been there ! Especially at milking time ! That would have been interesting since I’ve never milked a cow in my life !
On October 4, 2010 at 1:48 pm
Theresea Q says:
Now, after seeing how much fun I missed I know I will have to make the trip next time. After all, I can always bring Clover one of my pies to try….love to see that smile!!!!
On October 4, 2010 at 5:10 pm
suzanne says:
What a wonderful party! I love the princess outfit and of course the pictures of BP :moo:
On October 4, 2010 at 11:18 pm
Natalie S. Cyphers says:
Suzanne, I had a wonderful time at the party and staying at your home…you and your family (52) included are such gracious hosts 🙂 Thanks for opening your home and hearts for unforgettable vacation to the beautiful mountains of WV!!! 🙂
On October 5, 2010 at 8:52 pm
CityGirl says:
Mannn,I am with Kim W. …how did I miss this! I’m so sorrrry Suzanne, I’ll totally be there next year. I’ll be closer too, since we’re planning to move to Asheville next summer. That’s why I haven’t been checking in, too busy to chat with the plans.
And we’ll be there early to help :hungry: eat… (and help lol)
Amy
On October 8, 2010 at 11:13 am