OH MY ~ my aunt gave to the hsus

Thanksgiving is a time for family to come together and eat, drink and be merry! Our Thanksgiving this year was no different.  We ate yummy food, drank some really good wine and had wonderful conversations on all sorts of topics. One topic much to my surprise that came up at the Thanksgiving table – The Humane Society of the United States.  How you might ask did this come up? My aunt donates to them religiously each month – because you know they are helping with the placement and care of all those little dogs and cats.  (Oh no!!)

Let me give you a brief family history~ my aunt is a lovely lady. She grew up on the family farm where I reside. She was active in the day to day activities, showed steers, her infamous Angus calf, “Tar Baby” was a county fair champion, she loved farm life. Upon graduation from Notre Dame College she married the love of her life and moved to the Bay area. She lived her life now in the City and to this day still is a “city girl.”  My aunt is now 80 years old – she has been away from the farm for 60 some years.

As we visited at Thanksgiving my mom started bragging about me – she is good for that- saying that I have been going around speaking to different groups about getting the conversation going in agriculture.  My auntie was quite proud when she told me she donates money each month to the HSUS to help with the puppies and kittens. I about choked on my bite of turkey!  What? Was my initial reaction.  You do what?  I instantly felt my tummy feeling jumbled and anxious.  She explained to me that she got something in the mail and that she really felt it would not be much of a sacrifice to donate monthly. I proceeded to tell her about the HSUS and why it was better for her to funnel her monthly funds to our local pet shelter. I also told her that the goal of the HSUS was to end animal agriculture and farms such as ours.  She was horrified, she had no idea.  I felt good that I educated my auntie on the tactics of HSUS.  We talked about it at some length. She now feels good that she will be sending her money to the local shelter and that this money will be put to good use.

The moral of the story is that even though you grow up on a farm doesn’t mean you are immune to the message of the HSUS.  Big cities and older folks seem to be a good place for HSUS to market their agenda.  My aunt is a prime example of a smart woman who was duped by the story that they told.  My aunt supports farms and ranches but she truly thought she was doing a good thing by also supporting the HSUS.

It is not only a good idea to share your story it is a good idea to engage in conversations, listen, share and educate when needed.  You never know who you will need to chat with!  It might be your dear aunt across the Thanksgiving table J

Are you interested in finding out more about getting the correct information out about the HSUS - check out http://www.humanewatch.org/ - a great place that uncovers mistruths and promotes good dialogue.

The PUFFY jacket - a must for wintertime!

Today is Black Friday and you cannot turn on the television or open up the newspaper or check out your email or facebook or twitter without countless ads about "lots of stuff" on sale for the holidays. I am here to say I am not a Black Friday shopper but figured since it is Friday why not a Black Friday Fashion Friday post.

My favorite thing that I have seen as an item for Black Friday Sales across America ~ the Puffy Jacket!!

I have seen these advertised in large retail outlets as well as higher end department stores.  They are in a rainbow of bright colors and are tremendously fun !  Turquoise, hot pink,  sunnyyellow, lime green,  outrageous orange,  electric blue and then of course all the "normal" colors. I have seen these very cute jackets really reasonably priced so be sure to investigate before you waste all your pennies. You can get a jacket and have some left over for a new scarf, mittens and a hat !

my very own travel show ~

Seems as if life has been a whirlwind lately, my most recent adventure took me to the American Agriwomen Convention in Wichita, Kansas. While there I got to meet facebook friend now real friend Lori Bammerlin.  Lori is probably one of the most creative people I have yet to meet in my adventures so  thought I would share her with all of you !

Lori made all of these fabulous necklaces with an assortment of wonderful beads, she also has hand painted shoes, tshirts and really cool, fun hats!  Old feed sacks turned tote bags and wranglers made into fun skirts.  Whats old is new again with many of Lori's fun pieces.

My adventures take me to lots of places~ I feel as if I am on my own  travel show , you know the ones you see on TV.  My travels hook me up with interesting people engaged in agriculture and sharing a common passion and just sometimes they are doing extra fun things that spark my interest, like Lori and her cool treats with a western style flair.  I couldn’t keep her to myself so I figured I would share her with all of you –

If you are interested in Lori and her creations you can email her at ag06grad@yahoo.com  - or check out her blog at http://homeontherangeexhange.blogspot.com - she can take it from there!

“Never give up on something you dream about every day”

Not sure where I saw this but it was awhile ago, I taped it to my computer so that I could reflect on it daily.  (yes I am weird like that) 

I have wanted to perfect my image, put everything under one umbrella, make it nice and neat. Blog, stationary, business cards- you name it I like a nice concise look.  With the help of my dear friend I am well on my way.  She is one of those techy, super smart computer geeks, (in a good way) .  I have now created a nice bio sheet so when someone says “Celeste can I get your bio?” I can say “Sure, let me send that to you right away.”  I feel like I am complete!

Excited for the opportunities ahead of me ~ for now I can venture out looking good !  Whether it be writing for a magazine, blogging on my own thoughts, speaking to the world on why I love farming and ranching or presenting a business card to someone I meet face to face – I can do it feeling good about the initial presentation.

What y’all think ? 

What do you think about every day? Don’t give up on it !  Keep at it until you make it a reality however small or large it might be !!!

Until next time when I find something fun to write about ~

Old McDonald Had A Farm.........................and then he went to the CITY

Bright and early Thursday morning I made the grand trek to San Francisco to be a part of a memorable experience.  Sharing my love of agriculture with young people in the San Francisco School District, over 10,000 of them!   And so the story begins~~~~

I made my way to

251 Sixth Street

. Being a veteran of shopping in downtown SF I knew exactly where

Sixth Street

was so I was excited I did not have to wiggle my way trying to figure out where my assigned school would be. For I have visited Nordstrom’s and Bloomingdales numerous times and goodness my school was only a few blocks away – how convenient for after wards. Or was it?  As I made my way I searched for 251 sixth and could not find it, I decided to pay $ 10 to park and walk and explore, it couldn’t be too far.  Ummmmm , first lesson of the day!!! There is a difference between

251 Sixth ST

and

251 Sixth AVE

- Nooooooooooooo – did I write down the wrong address? How could I? I was early, prepared, ready to conquer my class with all things agriculture. Yep after a call to my partner Chris I found out I was at the wrong SIXTH and the one I needed to be at in less than 5 minutes was completely on the other side of SF.  Oh my- jumped in my car and headed west and within a short time of wiggling through the SF streets I found my school.  A sweet small school of children from K to 5^th grade.  Whew, only about a half hour late but thanks to my partner for the day he started without me and was already rockin it. 

Ok, now I was ready to tell my story and I did. I proceeded to talk about my family cattle ranch and why I was there, to talk about farms, ranches, answer questions and focus on my presentation of the day – Beef Byproducts!  Children were amazed when they learned that chewing gum, baseball gloves, fine china and medicines were all a part of the beloved cow.  Ewwwwww, Yuk and really? Were some of the comments I heard but then described the by product as an ingredient of the big picture comparing to a cookie.  Mixing flour, sugar, eggs, butter etc to create the perfect cookie it is no different than cow horn being finally ground up and added to other ingredients to make the fine china your mom uses at Christmas dinner. They seemed to make the connection!  Success! 

I did find it interesting that one teacher told me she promoted organic, vegan practices with her class and said that many of the young people’s families ate organic, hormone free, or vegan options. My response, really why is that? Because that is the best.  My response was that this was one choice of so many, all of which are produced by American Farmers and Ranchers. She then told me that the by product lesson my partner and I gave that day would probably have some pushback from parents and she made a grimace.  Really? I said, well here is my card and I encourage any parent that wishes to call or email me – I would be happy to discuss by products further.  I was always asked if my family operation was grass fed – she certainly hoped so! I told her well for the first part of their life the calves are on grass until we sell them and then they do go into a feedlot before they are harvested.  She looked at me as if I was an alien.  Concluding that once again the beauty of our farmers and ranchers and of consumers is that we have options!   Options on methods to produce, options on what to buy and consume.  Bottom line it is important to be educated on ALL options so that you then can make responsible choices for your family.

The children were eager to learn about the farm and where food came from and how it was produced, I was happy to share it all with them.  I wanted to scoop them all up take them home with me and share the life I led with each and every one of them so they too could experience the life I love.

Our children in public schools should have the opportunity to learn about all aspects of farms not just grass fed farms or just organic farms, only hormone free farms or only conventional farms. They should be able to have it all. I do not believe that they should be influenced by one teacher because she has chosen a vegan way of life.  I believe it is our job as farmers and ranchers to tell the story, to share the options, to be a resource, to share the facts, to educate, to build the bridge.   I encourage everyone to check their schools, what are your kids learning? Is all information being given?  Lets be sure!  Farmers are Farmers – I don’t believe we need to have our kids starting to pit one type against another. 

After visiting my school I realized that children love famers!  They did not care if we were organic or conventional, whether we were grass fed or hormone free, they accepted me for who I was and that is what is most important.  We can learn a lot from kids!! 

Special thanks to California Foundation for Ag in the Classroom on celebrating 25 years of bringing agriculture education to our young people and thank you for letting me be a part of a very special day and sharing my ag story.  I know I can speak for the over 250 volunteers that merged into San Francisco Schools , the experience for us was just as rewarding as those of the children.  Lets keep doing good things for California Agriculture~ Why? Because it is our obligation to fellow farmers and ranchers , that’s why !!

Take a Walk on the Wild Side~

So I have missed a week with my usual blog – time keeps clipping along and it seems I am pedaling as fast as I can to keep up !  The good news is I have been out and about promoting YOU and I and all the other farmers and ranchers across America.  However as I always say, we cant talk cows all the time so lets take a quick break and talk clothes.

So what shall we visit about today? How about Leopard!  Another fashion tip from Couture Cowgirl ~ own at least one item that is leopard!  Make the print a staple in your accessory wardrobe.  Its timeless, a bit edgy and always fabulous.

Thinking big and bold how about a twinset or maybe even a coat. Or what about these great shoe booties?  Adorable!!  However some of you might be a bit afraid to jump into animal print so go small like maybe a thin small belt, ballet flats, a headband or a scarf.  Pair it with all black or camel or even red !

Take a walk on the wild side and try it , just a little goes a long way !  Fun Stuff !

(ps I promise to be better with the weekly posts - until next time )

A "Bombtastic" Evening

This past week I had the opportunity to do the invocation at the California Farm Bureau California Bountiful Gala. It was a wonderful night honoring long time friend of agriculture, Cotton Rosser.  The evening was filled with unforgettable moments and people who inspire me.  I was like a little girl in a candy shop visiting all the wonderful people, some that were longtime friends, others I had just met. I scurried from group to group to make sure I did not leave anyone out !  While  there I met one of my all time favorites Baxter Black. I remember seeing him many years ago at the American Junior Hereford Association Convention in Kansas City- he made an impression on me then and still does today.

He took time to visit with me and to me that meant so much since there were so many folks clamoring around wanting a photo op or to bend his ear.  Words of encouragement in those couple minutes will last forever.

What a gem of a young man.  Baxter – you are the real deal.  Thank you for carving out time in your busy evening to spend with me!  You are bombtastic!

~Sometimes you meet someone that touches you and leaves an impression.  And for that you are so ever grateful ~