Threshing Bee

A Threshing Bee is a festival held in communities to commemorate the old ways of threshing and other past farming methods.  {Yes, I had to look that up}  

A little over a week ago, we went with Grandma and Grandpa to the Annual Tazewell County Threshing Bee.  It was fun to have Lexi, Wesley & Whitley join us as they were visiting from their time in Indiana.  The kids were all VERY excited to see each other again.  

I'm not sure which annual bee this was, but I think it's been going on for some time.  I know we went to one when we visited years ago when Sutton was a baby.  This is the first time we've been since then.  It is interesting to see history in action.  All these things are done with machines now.

 Grandma & Whitley

 Watching a farrier take-off shoes, clean up, trim hoof and put horseshoes on a horse.
This was a first for me and my kids.

 Hammering the shoe after coming out of hot oven in background.

 Smoking as he puts the hot shoe on.  

He said the horse can't feel it, but the smoke can sometimes scare them.

Nailing it in place

 Watching a miniature old-style hay baler

 The kids each got a mini cedar strips bale to keep :)

 Old style thresher - separating the grain from the chaff.  It was a VERY hot and humid day and showed us how much hard work farmers years ago had to do.

The steam engine of  the thresher

 The kids had fun on this train

Notice that Hudson is gone from the empty car?  He's actually in there, but laid down.  Sutton is starting to do the same.

 Old tractors

 Before combines (which combine into a single-operation process what previously required three separate operations - reaping, threshing & winnowing) this was used to separate corn from cob.

 the grain

 the rest

 A mommy Clydesdale and her 2-month old baby.  Big baby, huh?

After naps for Whitley and Kerrigan, we went over to Grandma and Grandpa's, because the kids wanted to spend as much time together as possible before they went back.

We did some target practice with Grandpa and his 22.

 It was fun.  I was very excited to hit the can on my first shot!  I didn't know it at the time, Sutton took this picture of me :)

I think each of the kids hit the can at least once, too!

 Can you tell how hot it was by their red faces?

Saying goodbye.
They love each other!