Blub, blub

Dexter has embarked on swimming lessons. His genius parents puzzled over his flat-out refusal to enter the water one week and upon questioning the wayward preschooler, invested in Dexter-size goggles and now its All Swimming All the Time. Extra deep baths have been requested in-between swim lessons. Hero biscuits for Mom and Dad.

Note to Toronto parents: I registered Dexter THREE DAYS after registration opened. After a panicky realization, I frantically found the number, called with a frenzied edge in my voice. The nice calm lady asked what day, what time slot and told me to pick up my receipt when we came. VOILA! Take that Toronto Parks and Rec!

Summer in October

A late season hot spell (aka Summer 2010), has come and gone. This was marked by a resurgence of mosquitoes. Yes, really. They had to have the last say. We'll show them...c'mon Winter! (Oh no...did I just type that out loud?)

I dazzled even myself with a few early morning walks to enjoy the sunrise. I include a couple shots of the view and the beaver showing off one early morning.

(Sunrise walks sound impressive, don't they? Please do not focus to much on the fact that sunrise will shortly be occurring just before lunch. Thank you.)

Bale Hauling Season

Harvest is complete...now Hauling Bales Season is upon us. The beginning of this phase was celebrated yesterday with the sacred "Repair the Flat Tire" Ceremony. A sense of resignation has fallen over local farmers.

Chicken Challenge 2010 Ends

Okay, so it wasn't much of a 'challenge' per se. Dad pretty much took care of them, no contest was held. So much for that.

But now I can report that the chickens have fulfilled their destiny and were delivered to the butchers this past Sunday.

Of approximate 102 to start. 38 made it to Butcher Day. Puh-thetic. 60% attrition! Blight, escape, raccoons and coyotes had their way with the flock this year.

Had I been a diligent blogger you would have been captivated by reports of raccoon break-ins, mass murder, reinforcing the perimeter, breaking through the perimeter, checking in with CTU, Sam the dog corning raccoon in the old combine, Peter solving the problem with the 22, another raccoon moving in, more 'lead poisoning', etc. But I was a crap blogger (as has been established) and you missed all that.

Point being - REALLY crap year for chickens.

For all those making the trip this past weekend, the average weigh-in was somewhere between 3 and 4 pounds. Please inquire with Mom for exact measurements.

Moose, moose everywhere

...but none for me!!!

Mom and Dad's friends came for a visit and while Hank was out toodling around, didn't Bullwinkle just turn up ahead of him on the road. Did the moose veer off? Nope, just upped his pace a little bit. And back and forth until Hank had to put a little effort into catching up with him to convince him to get off the road before he got to the highway. He finally obliged/

Then Nicole and Alex went out to find him. And they did! Just a walk down the road and off to the field on one side, there he is...bright as day.

What do I see? Moose poop on the road. Dexter was underwhelmed when I tied to show it off to him.

Maybe next time.

Harvest Time...

was not not easy this year. Or so I hear (having remained safely inside for the duration).

Rain, rain, came again and soaked everything in one long soggy day - it was like the flood waters hadn't been receding for the past two months.

Anyhoo, at long last, the bales were completed this past week when a string of warm and windy days dried everything up again.

There was an impressive number of bales, which I would share with you if I remembered it. Suffice to say...the herd should make the winter.

I hereby acknowledge....

that I have been a crap blogger. Forgive me, oh minions. :)

I know you are waiting with baited breath (what does that mean?). I will be posting more shortly (unless I don't).

Harvest time..

AKA...Farm Machinery Repair Season.

Peter returned from a day of cutting the other day with a big black eye. Questions about the hay bine (cutting machine thingee) received no reply. On the upside, said hay bine is still out in the field and not crowding out the baler awaiting repairs in front of the shop.

Yay.

Quote of the Day

"Well, the chickens that've survived...look pretty good!", Dad.

Happier than pigs in mud

Wandered to the park in Yorkton. Turned our backs and by the time we looked back, the boys had found a mud puddle.

What the hell...off with their shirts and we plunked down to watch them have the BEST time for the next two hours.

Other families steered clear. Was it something we said?

Quote of the day... "That was the best day EVER!" Matthew Washington.

Moth season...ewww.

Good news! Mosquitoes have retreated...we can exit the house!

Bad news. Moths have moved in. Evenings are spent in dim lighting wielding bug zapper paddles.

They practically ignite. Definitely spark. Gross.

Relocation, relocation, relocation

Bythe dim light of a huge moon (GORGEOUS shot included), the intrepid troupe of me, Dad and Peter headed out to separate the chickens.

Yup, they're almost growed up now, time to expand the coop.

33 of the roughly 90 surviving flock were relocated to the new digs.

They're slow and stupid-er at this time of the evening. They've settled down and won't run away. Smarter chickens would be INSIDE, but not these ones.

So, it's just a matter of putting them in the crate, carting them to the other coop and disgorging.

Then they're all settled in for the night.

Cluck, cluck.

A cunning round of card play by Peter

Slapped down a card in our round of canasta last night...."I'll show you where the bear sat down in the buckwheat!"

(I have no idea....)

Didn't know she could move so fast!

Mom was heading out for her morning walk, fiddling with her walkman (yes, walkman). She looked up to see Sam the Dog running towards her. Being chased by a moose.

What to do!?!? Start running!

Chug, chug, chug...off she went. First glance back...still coming. Running....!

Second glance...moose veered off into the bush, Sam in hot pursuit.

Warmed up, she proceeded on with her walk.

Her comment..."They have LONG legs!"

That was interesting.

Flood Vice-Dictator appointed

Mom and Dad left for a little anniversary get-away (49 years...holla!) and in his stead, Peter is in charge of flood management with dictatorial powers.

Interestingly, the guy who appointed Dad left town too and his vice-guy has no idea all this has been decided.

And there's poor Peter out there revving the bulldozer.... :)

The channel runneth over

Just a little clip for the multitudes who are interested... Sam the Dog is standing about where the culverts run under the road. There should be no water visible at all from where I'm standing.

At least it's picturesque... :)

Flood Dictator appointed

As mentioned in an early post, for years Dad was warning the local watershed committee to lower the water levels at Good Spirit lake, just a couple miles to the northwest of us. But NO, they wanted high water levels for boats.

Be careful what you wish for. While Yorkton is flash flooding to the south, the lake overfloweth on the other side of us.

An emergency meeting was held to discuss the imminent ruin of the surrounding area...and guess what?

Dad was appointed the Flood Dictator, should the lake bust around the control gates, Dad has carte blanche to do whatever he needs to minimize the damage. Like...he gets to call someone (?) and say "Bulldoze the road!" He'll be the one to issue evacuation orders to the honey farm down the road. "Get out of there!" Cool!

Turns out, he actually knows what he's talking about and knows the area the best. When the water comes, he knows where it will be heading.

Blub, blub.

The aftermath

Chris took the camera along to Yorkton after the flooding....

No one was seriously hurt, but the local Dairy Queen was destroyed. Now I have constant Blizzard cravings...

July 1 - Canada Day flash floods

Happy Belated Canada Day everyone! Clearly, I'm a very negligent blogger - a lot has been going on.

Our little family put headed out to the Western Development Museum in Yorkton for an afternoon of thrills and excitement with the cousins.

Thrills included being victimized by mosquitoes on the tractor/wagon ride through the trees (fun). Excitement was provided by Dexter ALMOST going in the bouncy castle with his older cousins (several times) and, more importantly, fudgecicles for everyone.

As the ice cream was being sucked back, the daily arrival of afternoon storm clouds was underway.

But, hang on....these looked pretty dramatic. That's it...party's over! Everyone packed up and headed out.

We had Dexter and the twins, Matthew and Nathan with us as we drove home to the farm. We could see the storm hit behind us and watched the light show in the rear view mirror...spectacular!

Brother-in-law Brent called to check in...said the roads were rivers in town. Between 4 to 6 inches of rain came down in less than an hour.

Somehow the farm seems to miss the major direct hits. We're always on the periphery.

An action-packed afternoon did end with a lovely rainbow...for us at least. :)

State of Emergency declared in the garden

Mom says there's never been a year like it. The garden is a write off.

- Record rain fall has turned half of it into a rice paddy...too bad we forgot to seed
- The brand new rototiller remains idol...would just get stuck
- Weeds are rubbing their pollen-laden leaves together in glee
- Potato bugs have infested the few brave potatoes that are struggling forth
- Peter powered the bugs last night
- It rained and washed the powder away
- New potatoes were planted today...trying again
- Bulls have trampled the carrot patch

The only hope remains with the cluster of raised beds across the road. It's looking promising and Chris and I did some seeding yesterday. A little sun would be appreciated.

Looks like we'll join the masses in the checkout line at Superstore this year...

Time to go fishing.

Secure the perimeter

Coming into the yard after walk and Dad zoomed up on the quad. Turns out three bulls have busted out. They were in isolation in the corrals...guess they didn't like that. Have I seen them?

Um...no. But I heard the cows making a ruckus over there... He perked up. Zoom!! Off to the yard fence. I trudge after him - no quad hitching for me.

We peered into the field...and who did we see? Hawaiian Bulll (known for his swivelling hips) and the little black bull, who as it turns out, is actually a steer. Somehow no one noticed his lack of balls until quite recently. In isolation until the meat wagon shows up. But, apparently feisty, he was one of the escapees.

It seems they are about to cruise into the yard...they're on the people-side of the fence. Dad zooms off. I continue to watch the action. I hear a 'hey!' from Dad...I rush over to consult. Does he need help? Shall I saddle up the golf cart to leap into action? Turns out he's just telling me to move...the bulls are going to come my way. Oh.

What can I do? He has no idea what the plan is yet. Have I seen Peter? I point him in the direction of the sound of the other ATV. Zoom!

I head into the house to capture the action on memory card. I zip up to tell Julia about the drama unfolding outside her window. She's dozing...I go away.

The guys have a plan....open the yard fence gate to the pasture and let the bulls in. Brilliant!

All goes well...barring some significant hoof prints in the lawn.

Soon, escapee #3 shows up and follows his pals into the pasture.

Original bull is last seen posturing atop a dirt mound, making sure the newcomers are clear that this is HIS herd. Men.

Tomorrow...move the whole gang to a new pasture and peel off the three back to corrals. Good luck with that!

UPDATE:
Apparently the bulls left a trail of very deep, very soggy hoof prints in the garden. Right through my row of carrots. Bummer.

No bull

The beef supply was getting low, time to replenish.

Peter quickly ID'd the junior bull with an ornery look in his eye as the new hamburger source.

The deed was done yesterday morning.  Less than an hour from field to abbatoir...that's fresh. 

Sadly Junior didn't even have a chance to sow his oats, but on the other hand, neither was he shunted into the icky feed lot system. 

His days ended chewing fresh grass on a green, dew-covered field.

Updates

Well, our little highway is open again, the waters have receded and are obligingly flowing UNDER the bridge.  Yay!

The swaths being mowed in the yard are gaining ground, although the front yard pond is still flourishing.

Unclear as to the outcome of the birds nest.  Peter made it out there to investigate a few days ago, but the nest was empty.  No clear indication of foul play or successful hatch.  We'll never know for sure.

There are, however, other VERY protective blackbirds around the yard.  Go in the wrong area and some severe dive bombing is sure to occur.  Sam has a lot of grief during the day.

Mosquitos are still ruling the roost, so to speak and continue to torture everyone all hours of the day and night.

I am trying out a new Insect Defend Patch.  It appears to be a dose of B1 Thiamine that you wear like a nicotine patch to deter bugs by radiating whatever you radiate while wearing it.  I know you're waiting with bated breath to see how it works.  I will be sure to update you ASAP.

Okay....the mosquitos are really, really disgusting

I hope for this to be my final moan about the skeeters.  I feel I have made my point....right after this.

I when outside to secure the chicken coop last night and wondered...what is that sound? Stood still and realized it was a generalized mosquito whine thrumming through the air. All around. Everywhere. No escaping.

C.R.E.E.P.Y.

I wanted to get inside fast before I crawled out of my skin.

Did the chickens cooperate?  No.

They busted out of the be half-gate across the main door.  Scooped up one errant escapee...the rest were too stunned to bother.

Went around to the chicken yard to herd the later-nighters inside and they wouldn't budge.

Had to forceably pick up a dozen or so chickens and not urge them through the door...SHOVE them through the door.  They were quite fine roosted up against the coop, thank you very much.

Just when you want to get the hell back inside you meet with a chicken sit-in.

Happy summer everyone!

Break in the weather

To celebrate the third day of no rain (apart from brief overnight showers), TWO mowers are going full steam ahead today.  

That's Mom in her jaunty pink camp and Dad working the backfield.

Take that, you crazy-growing-lawn.  Take that!

Closed!

Well, they finally closed the highway this morning.  We went into town last night and the car was NOT pleased with it's swim through the flood zone and apparently the highway department is finally in agreement.

Our neighbour Ron, on the eastern shore, informed us of the closure this morning and claimed that the beavers were eating a hole throught the asphalt.  I, like an idiot, believed  him, until Mom clued me in that it was his hilarious way of saying that part of the road is now being washed away.  I'm quick.

So, onto a 10 minute dirt road drive of a detour.  The couple of farmyards on the way must be all a twitter with the traffic-packed roads.

The channel down the road continues to rise.  The two culverts going under the road are so far underwater that a local beaver (really) chose to portage rather than be battered around with an underwater passage.

Peter reports early morning hilarity with Sam (the dog) chasing down an overly-confident fox who found his escape route thwarted by deep water.  He had to dig deep for untold courage to come shockingly close to the truck to make his break for it.

But seriously, states of emergency are popping up all over the place.  Highway 1 near Alberta is closed due to flooding, seeds are not even being planted.  Bummer of a year all around.

Happily, there was a period of sun and wind today.  Not even the mosquitoes could hold their own...yay.  

However, the popular fluff was in fine form...some hit Mom in the back of the throat as she careened around the yard on lawnmower. 

Never misses a chance to mow down a swath or two...

Random

The ridiculous-ness of the yard tractor parking lot.

Saskatchewan yacht

Spring shots

Nice shots of the farm. This was pre-monsoon in the first week on June.

Lovely lilacs

Dexter leaving.

Running into Grandma on our walk

Rolling bedding plant nursery.

Energizer Mom

With her attempts at gardening thwarted, Mom has now refocussed her not-inconsiderable energy on deep cleaning the house.

We are hiding downstairs listening to the roar of the vacuum.

Think of us.

Bird nest...update

No update.  

Boot-sucking, quagmire mud conditions have rendered the rhubarb patch unreachable. 

The best we can report is that the birds still get pissed off when we get near and the last known location of the nest still appears to be above the waterline.

Chirp, chirp.

True Blood - Saskatchewan Style

The local population is facing a very real fear of exsanguination.

Merely stepping outside your house or car results in being blanketed in swarms of huge, thirsty mosquitoes.  Gross.

So, rather than enjoying the lovely (if somewhat soggy) summer weather, we are huddled indoors slapping at buzzing infiltrators.

It's that, or go outside and come back in feeling like an itchy raisin.

Decisions, decisions....

Blub blub...

Record-setting rainfall here this year.  The most in a million years or something like that.

The house is now waterfront property with the appearance of a pond in the front yard and our little highway is awash in flood waters by the bridge to the 'big' highway.

Mom can be heard muttering "this is stupid" as she crams the bedding plants into any non-mud dirt she can find and laments the yellowing of leaves as she careens around the yard in the golf cart (she just sped by the window inspecting the north-east corner of the yard).

She tries to find Chris to help push her out when she takes the lawn mower into too-soggy land - she's trying to avoid Dad's stink-eye for not having heeded warnings to stay away.  But "goll darn it" the grass is like hay already!

Meanwhile Dad is doing a "told you so" to the local watershed committee from which he resigned in protest several years ago.   He was ignored in his insistence that the local lake's water level was being kept way too high...lining everything up for a big mess if wet weather continued. 

Well guess what?   There are reports of sandbagging underway to try to protect waterfront cabins and the do-hickey to drain the lake into the channels is WIDE open, but nowhere close to keeping pace with the water rising.   A lot of eye-rolling going on.  Never mind the long-disappeared beaches, now the potential for uncontrolled general flooding is very real.  

Four more days of rain expected.  Strap on the water wings.

At least one segment of the population is very pleased...the mosquitoes.

'Sree' year old Dexter!

Huge celebrations yesterday for the youngest of the clan.  Many balloons, decorations and a horse added a festive note to a gathering of the exact same group of family that gets together each weekend.  :)

Horse rides, plane flying, many perogies and gift opening made for a lovely afternoon.

Happy Birthday big boy!

Eggs in the nest

Peter spotted a nest in the "old rhubarb" patch.  Alerted by a really pissed-off bird, he knew something was near by...and he was right!

When asked what kind of bird was nesting, Peter said it was a "shpock", which apparently is a Ukranian term for generic, little, black bird. Helpful.

Aunt Julia was called in for a consultation.  She will be researching it in her bird watching manual and will submit her findings when she gets around to it.

Photo is from a few days ago.  Egg count is up to five as of yesterday (excursion during Dexter's birthday festivities).  We'll keep you posted live occasionally from the nest.

Dexter will also be updating you on the state of the dandelion fluff, which is clearly more interesting anyway. 

Stay tuned!

Beauty fades...

"Shhhhh!"  Dexter learning to not yell around the chicks.

Two-and-a-bit weeks old. 

The awkward phase.

Tropic of Toronto

When I was a citizen of  Toronto, from time to time I would realize that for Canada, Toronto was a southern destination.  I think it's the same latitude as Denver, or something like that. 

Really....western Canada STARTS level with Thunder Bay, which (for Torontians) is the North...and a great deal of the east is the same.  Southern Ontario doesn't know from cold!

Why do I reflect on this today, you ask?

Because we're going to have a high of freakin' 6C today!  Likely have snow this weekend, just like Calgary's been having.

So, I would tease my fellow Torontonians when they cringed at an unseasonable 12C in May.  Remind them of the the rest of shivering Canada and point out that they were living in the Tropic of Toronto.

Not that I minded.  I loved living in the tropics (apart from heat and smog emergencies...not so much). But it was NICE to have more that 10 weeks of gardening weather, patio weather, where-something-other-than-parkas weather.  Nice, I say.

Sure clean air, breath taking horizons, no traffic jams are great....but so is summer.

Happy weekend everyone.

Rough Day in the Coop

There was a wee Candillo family outing to do the Chick Check this evening.

We refilled the water and marveled at how fast the chicks are growing....the usual.

Just about ready to leave when I noticed one belly up in the back of the corral.  Yup, definitely dead.  That makes two.

Chris lifted it out with the pitchfork...a brief eulogy was completely disregarded as it landed in the burn barrel.

We're looking for patterns in deaths.  The only thing so far is that Dad was doing the Chick Checks prior to each discovery.  We're not pointing fingers...yet.

Forensics are inconclusive.

Cloud Bursts and Bug Guts

Just a little shout out to the short-lived, but fierce cloud burst I drove through this afternoon.  

The intense rain and wipers made short work of the bug guts encrusted on the windshield which was already impeding visibility.  Much easier than the squeegee.

Thanks!

Philosophical Breakfast...

Somehow we got the topic of global warming over rhubarb crisp (hey, it's got oatmeal AND fruit/veggies) this morning.   Dad wondered why melting icecaps will cause rising sea levels.   Ice is denser than water, when it melts, the level doesn't change.  Wasn't that a 7th grade science project?  The glass full of ice and water is currently sitting on the kitchen counter.  Discussions to resume at lunch.

I noticed Peter quietly sitting just looking out the window at the (very) wet and rainy yard.  I was going to ask him if he was okay and then thought..."Why wouldn't he be okay?  Isn't that just as valid as sitting watching TV?"

So, I shared my train of thought.  Dad agreed and pointed out when they were growing up, there was no TV, and only a little radio, so people visited more, worked together more, played cards and generally had more to do with each other.  That doesn't happen anymore.  Neighbours live farther apart as the homesteads disappeared, everyone has TV and internet...no need to visit. 

Ain't technology grand?

UPDATE
The laws of physics remain unchanged from my time in 7th grade...the ice melted and the glass did not overflow. Whew...

UPDATE 2

Clearly science class served me well...ice is LESS DENSE than water.   Duly noted Dad. :)

Never too cold for the first dip of the season

We are fortunate enough to live less than 5 minutes away from Good Spirit provincial park, so we loaded up the kids to go play in the playground and get the season's park pass - this being the iconic May Long Weekend.

It was a GHOST town.  No one taking money at the gate, empty parking lot, no one in the playground...it was that gross of a weekend - everyone had given up.  Poured on Saturday, huge winds on Sunday, overcast morning on Monday...but it cleared up a bit, so we went.

So, the boys were happy for a little while in the park, but inevitably, the beach beckoned.   So the adults huddled in  a sunbeam and the kids had a blast.

Finally pulled the plug when Nathan's lips were blue and Matthew ASKED to put his clothes on.

Remember being a kid and not caring about anything but playing??? 

Ya, so do I.... :)

Getting things done before the rain...

May long weekend ensures it will be rainy.  And so it is...

Before it hit though, the farm gang took full advantage of the beautiful morning.

I headed out to check the chicks (I had forgotten the other morning and had to redeem myself) while my boys were still in bed.  All was well...no squished chicks to report.  Just thirsty.

On the way back I was invited to go on the morning cattle check with Peter and Dad.  Sure...why not?  So we drove around...confirmed there were cows in the fields, a few people teeing off on the golf course, the water level is too high in the lake, the ducks' nest is no more (whether due to hatching or attack is unclear), the juice is flowing on the electric fence (Peter gets to test that) and three carloads of people had arrived to fish in the channel going through our sections.  Oh...and witnessed the first few minutes of a new calf wobbling to his/her feet.  Awww....  All this by 9:30 in the morning.

Returned to find Auntie Nicole and the boys had surfaced...they headed out as I headed in to eat.  After tidying up, I pulled on my coveralls (hugely attractive) and went out again.

Chris and Dexter took a ride on the quad to check out the fishing action, came back and fired up the rider mower.  They were set for the morning.

I was issued some pruning shears and took care of a maple stump that was getting right out of control...didn't stand a chance. 

Next on the list was flipping the hay in the chick corral.  They've gone from ardorable fluffy cute chicks to molting toddlers with a dirty hay issue.  After a panicked few minutes on their part, the poop was flipped and out of sight.  Tick that off the list.

Dad was planting in the greenhouse (former, really...as the recent windstorms ripped the plastic siding off of it, it's now a raised bed garden).  I pitched in with watering it to the point of looking like a rice paddy.   Apparently that is just perfect.

As the rain arrived, I hustled over to the main garden to gather some of the prolific rhubarb already taking over part of the big garden.  A request for crisp had been made...must do something with all the growth. (Add "Search for other rhubarb recipes" to my list).

In the meantime, Peter was weed whacking the yard, Nicole was doing her random junk-hauling and Julia was puttering in her corner of the garden.

And then...the deluge began...and that was the end of outside time.

Now crisps have been made, Dexter's nap has been had, blogging ensues and surfing for acceptable cartoons is underway.

Happy Soggy Long Weekend Everyone!

You gotta be fast!

I was on Chick Check this morning.  It's the very arduous task of making sure they are

1. still there,
2. have food  and
3. top up the water.

Once the incubating phase is over, they will be split into two groups.  50 to Team Peter, 50 to us - Team Candillo.  Part of the summer fun is to see how many survive out of each group - farm excitement. But for now, it's one big (little?) chick herd.

I opened the coop door to a flurry of excited chirping. So far, so good.  One little guy was motionless in the straw, but upon nudging, turned out to be a sleeper-in-er.

Plenty of feed, so I took out the water - a big inverted jug with a basin screwed on the bottom - to refill it.

Upon my return, I was about to place it back in the corral only to notice a squished chick right in the middle of the circle marking the water jug's spot.  Poor little guy wasn't fast enough.  You gotta run!

Chick count...99

Must speak to Dad at lunch - He-Who-Installed-the-Chicks.  Which team's count does this one come out of?

PS.  I was very stoic and dealt with the remains all by myself - coop is right next to the burn barrel.

In my heart...

...I have been blogging daily and captivating all 3 of my readers with tales of recent adventures.

Karen and Mac's Wedding, the Calgary road trip, Day at the Zoo, How We Spent FOUR Hours in the Pool on our Holiday...all of it.

In reality, I am a fair weather blogger.  Opportunity, time and energy MUST coincide.

Hey..what's that?!?!?!  The WALL.  And I just hit it.  Hope to do more soon.

'night!

Moose crap

...for those who were curious. 

You can thank me later.

Growing like crazy!

With scorching almost 30C days, the garden seeding is well ahead of schedule.

This is sure to be tormenting Mom as she is city-locked with her grandson Andrew in Calgary as his mom Karen and new step-dad Mac are off on their honeymoon.  Everyone makes sacrifices for mom.

The peas have already poked their tender shoots forth, the rhubarb is borderline monstrous and we had our first feed of asparagus today...yum!

The seedling plants have been released from their basement dungeon and installed into the lap of luxury in the back of the red pickup truck to acclimatize to the great outdoors.  No need to move them in and out...just drive the truck into the garage if need be.  Genius idea by Dad.

Peter's been rototilling like a crazy man, Nicole mowed for 8 straight hours today (yes, on a rider lawn mower), and there was a potato planting fest this afternoon.

Even got some mushroom huntin' in...Dad 1, Michele 0, Peter 12.  He's like a truffle pig...very skilled in finding the morels. I found mosquitos and I think I grabbed a stinging nettle.  Not so skilled...

So cute and fluffy...

100 new chicks arrived today.  From cardboard box in the front seat to little chick corral in the coop...they're settling in.

Dexter was very concerned about finding their mommies.  He wanted to go right away to find them.  He remains unconvinced that they do not require milk and they can flourish in the dubious care of people.

Of course they can...for about four months.

Lucky Log

With the Human Brick (see previous post) gig now over, a big outting is being called into play being a Human Log.

This involves sitting in the truck to 'block' the road to encourage the cows to go through the right gate when they're being moved into another field.

I can do that.

The 'lucky' part of log duty yesterday was  visit from a 2-day old calf.  I was moved to actually get out of the truck to do some arm waving to urge wayward beasties the proper direction.

Clearly I was very effective as the wee little brown calf wobbled his way right over to me and let me pet him!

Eventually he curled up in the ditch by the truck to wait for his mama and he let me come over and scratch his ears.

So cute!  I liked being a Log.

Useful as a brick...

Uncle Peter took off on a road trip last week for Phoenix, leaving a huge vacancy in the farm labour force, thus Chris and I were called in off the bench.

My morning, I was briefed on my duties in assisting the delivery of some bales to the field that still didn't have quite enough grass for munching.

I lounged in the truck waiting for the tractor to appear and enjoyed the morning.  Eventually the tractor came chugging along...

As it got nearer, I leapt into action, donned my rubber gloves, freed the electric fence wires off a post and held them down for the tractor to roll over.

I returned to lounging.

The tractor completed it's circuit, I held down the wires, it left the field and I reattached the wires and headed home.

I donned on me that the basically, I had been a human brick...holding down the wires.  Huh.

I pointed that out to Dad...he agreed...and shortly thereafter, we were fired.

Dad claims it was because the grass had started growing enough, but Chris took it pretty badly.  He got 'sick' the very next day and wouldn't get out of bed.

Aw...

Now that's low maintenance

At the Board of Director's meeting this morning over breakfast, Chris and I inquired as to how we could help out with the flurry of spring activity.

Uncle Peter:  If you think we don't do anything in the winter, wait 'till you see us in the summer!
Me: What, now that the cows are in the fields, it's just busy around planting time and then harvest time?
UP: What planting?
Me: Don't you seed for the feed?
UP:  No!  We just let the fields grow...it's the just grasses that are already there...

Wow.  Who knew?  Yes, I really am that clueless as to what goes on out here...

Makes sense.  The cows are eating grass all summer long...just keep some aside to cut and bale for the winter.

I'm kind of digging this whole ranching business.

So, Chris and Peter went off to survey the state of the fences and Dad fed the bulls that are still in the corral/pen.   Must keep them in check until it's 'go time'. :)

Holy tornado Batman!

...okay, so not quite, but my god it's windy!

Power's been off and on all morning (which brought an entertaining interlude of trying to explain electricity and lack of responsive switches to the kid).

Drove though dust clouds and even dodged some tumbleweeds (really) on the highway.

Got back from the daycare drop off and noticed pieces of the greenhouse flying around the yard.  Reported the destruction to Dad who told me he was dismantling it this year anyway...now he's got a head start.  Cool.

Stay tuned for sightings of Dorothy rolling by outside...

Lovely day...

It's so nice and so bright for so long that after dinner we went outside to kick the ball around with Dexter also teetering around on his 2-wheeler with training wheels.

Chris was rummaging through the gear in the garage and came out with a bat and ball.  He was really warming up to give the ball a good whack and... he missed!!!! 

Then Sam ate the ball.

Time to go in.

We got inside and Dexter declared he wanted cheesy noodles for lunch.  Poor kid.  It's been so dark for so long, he didn't realize it was bedtime.

They're coming fast and furious

...okay, not really furious, but fast!


There are at least four new calves in the pasture by the house as of this morning. Good news, the black cow with brown eyes and her calf are both fine.

Moooooo....

(Some shots of a few hour-old calf...and Sam)

You know he's been at this a while...

Uncle Peter noticed a cow in labour yesterday and when he checked her out, noticed the hooves poking out in a slightly worrisome angle.  Usually they're like "this", but these ones are like "that".  Could be breech, but looks like upside down...not too good.

Some inquiries from Dad revealed that the cow is a veteran mom and at this stage should be able to deliver a calf sideways.

I asked if perhaps something could/should be done, Peter shrugged his shoulders...nothing much.  At this stage, it could be downright dangerous to get anywhere near a labouring cow...think one ton of hormones.  

Conveniently, she is in the field right beside the house, so while playing canasta last night, Peter would glance out the window from time to time to confirm that she was still standing out there, labouring away.  No point in trying to do anything until she was at least lying on the ground.

"She's the black one standing out there," he said.

Mom went to close the window. "I see a dozen black cows," she said.

"The one with brown eyes," said Peter as he started to shuffle.

He'll take a closer look in the morning.

Moving to greener pastures...

Forget horses herding snorting beasts and huge dust clouds being kicked up by thundering bovine...this is the Wiwchar Ranch.  Here's what you do...

• Don't feed the beasties in the morning
• Move a few bales into destination field
• Check for gaping holes in fences
• Repair gaping holes in fences
• Load up the ATV with a couple buckets of grain
• Open gates
• Drive into field with ATV - get attention of herd just by showing up
• Start driving to destination field
• Confirm that you are being followed by herd of hungry, pregnant cows
• Continue driving
• Drive all the way to bales placed in field ealier
• Watch as herd starts eating
• Drive away
• Close gates

Voila!

The rest of the day is spent monitoring the gate (aka Uncle Peter's Nap in the Truck) to reunite separated families.

There were several new-born calves and mamas and a mama who was actually birthing her baby when the move was going on.  Either the little families won't go, or the calf gets left behind as it is hidden in the bush for a few hours right after delivery and mom wanders off for some breakfast.

So...everyone eventually shows up at the gate trying to get back to their babies.  Uncle Peter opens the gate, they go find each other, then wander back to join the rest.

Double voila!

When I find the camera, I'll upload the photos of an hours-old calf we watched yesterday. They're coming fast and furious now...

UPDATE:  Okay the best shot of the "cattle drive" is this arse-end view of them heading off after Uncle Peter.  Enjoy!

While we were gone...

Chris and I went to Toronto for a few days...to deal with a lingering business issue (all done!) and to visit our friends.  It was great!

That tip to "be a tourist in your own town" is SO true.    We were travelling light and fast and visited our friends and had a great time.

And while we were gone...

• The local Kinsmen "Perogy Cup" hockey tournament wrapped up
• Grandma and Grandpa got to spend a longer-than-expected time with Dexter, who came down with a nasty bug right before we left.  No daycare for this kid!
• Calves started popping out all over the place
• Cattle were relocated to soon-to-be greener pastures
• A mink was treed...and escaped
• The temporary pond in the front yard grew and already has almost completely receded.

Spring has sprung! 

Signs of Spring...

...In no particular order

• Geranium Watch 2010 begins - recon to Walmart scouting out seedlings.
• Massive roof drainage highlighting misaligned gutter and gaping holes in said gutter.
• Pond on front porch of house
• The missing stench of diesel fumes on the morning chore clothes...the troughs are not freezing over
• Mud-encrusted cars
• 45 minute line ups at the car wash
• Fresh snow 2 days later...followed by newly mud-encrusted cars
• Success with Project Geranium!
• Scandal revealed with the outrageous almost DOUBLING of the price of Walmart geraniums from last year.  More acceptable price sourced at Peavy Mart.  Ruffled feathers are smoothed.
• Daycare yard turns into massive Lake Yorkton/Yorkton skating rink, depending on the weather
• The arrival of seed catalogues - debating the pros and cons of trying sweet potatoes this year
• Plastic encasing the windows is boldly sliced to allow feeble breeze to enter formerly hermetically sealed home
• First barbecue of the season. Ribs enjoyed by all
• Chris realizing that his -40C boots may be overdressing a bit
• Chris realizing that he needs new shoes
• Warm enough to have plumber do the gas fittings to install new gas cooktop.  "Ooh, ahh!  It's HOT!"
• Muddy boots banished to the garage landing.  Additional newpaper layed down in back entrance.
• Puddles populated by happy boys all over the yard.
• Spring party is held - balloons released on boys' heads in celebration
• Great delight taken in popping balloons.   Dad sitting on balloon results in REALLY LOUD pop!
• Dexter snarfing back large portion of spring party cake decorated with icing filled ice cream cones.  Head begins to spin.
• Light...in the morning...like before we get out of bed.
• Deer and cow body parts being revealed in the yard as snow receeds -way to dig Sam!
• Mulling over the purchase of blackout blinds for the bedrooms
• Retirement of the snowmobile - sniff
• Return of the quad for farm transportation
• Light...in the evening...like while we eat supper
• Growing anticipation of sister Karen's May wedding
• Windowsill flies hatching
• Hummingbird Watch 2010 begins...it's a competitive sport
• Pondering installation of fresh fly paper
• Dexter announcing that he hates flies
• Mom resumes daily walks
• Michele considers daily walks
• Chris mourns his daily snowmobile rides
• Mom announcing that a too-large garden spruce tree needs a new home this year and there is simply nowhere to put it in this 4-acre (really) yard. Taken under advisement
• The nightly arrival of prairie chicken on the deck feasting on the remaining cranberries.  Appearance is conveniently timed around dinner for our viewing enjoyment
• Hungry critters emerging from hiding...Sam chasing away three deer from the fence...coyotes trotting across fields as we drive home from daycare
• Cow Watch 2010 - the growing anticipation of baby cows.  Any day now...
• Successful growth of heliotrope seedlings in the basement nursery.  I managed to keep them alive when Mom went to Calgary
• Arrival of spring dresses in the stores
• Uncle Peter outfitted with suit for wedding
• Successful purchase of dress for wedding
• Disbelieving denial of a -18C  morning

...but it's almost here!  Right?!?

Buffalos and Dinosaurs

"I want to see buffalos and dinosaurs", announces the backseat co-pilot.

Easy peasy...we go past our turn off for an extra 2 km down the highway and peruse the local bison farm. Way to go Super Mom. :) 

I told Chris the dinosaurs were his department.

Couldn't sleep last night

My mind was racing, so I set myself up on the couch to be lulled into somnolence by infomercials.    While I was waiting for it to take effect, I was serenaded by a pack of coyotes outside. 

Nice.

Snowman Season - March 6 - March 6, 2010

It finally arrived, the perfect, sunny, melty day and with it sprung up a snow family, complete with pets.

Matthew and Dexter building Snow Dexter

L-R - Snow Dexter, Snow Mommy, Snow Aunt Julia

(background - Snow Daddy with some sort of bun on top)

The family with Snow Sam the Dog and Snow Caterpillar.

Makes sense...

Driving into Yorkton today, I saw the flashing lights of the law had pulled over a big rig, just outside of town.

Interestingly, to me anyway, was that as I got closer, I saw that the lights were attached to a big white hemi of a pick up truck.  A ghost pickup.  I never thought of that.  I guess it makes sense...if you really want to blend in here, what else would you drive?

_____________________________

...and during the same action-packed voyage....I passed a neighbour riding his lawn tractor down the highway this morning (WTF?) and accompanying him was Lucky the dog, Sam the dog's brother.  Why would anyone encourage a dog to follow them on a highway?   Lucky chased us, got in front of the car, everything that will ensure that soon his name may not be enough to keep him safe... Bad dog!  Bad owner!

Consider yourself finger wagged.

There's hope!

As I was heading out to do the chores this morning, I gave Sam the dog a good rub and was rewarded by generating a huge cloud of fur.

Yay! The coat's thinning...spring must be thinking about showing up. :)

(All went well with the cows...nothing to report)

Day 1 - Don't tell Mom...

My sister Karen is getting married this spring (yay!) and preparations are ramping up, so Mom and Dad have gone to Calgary for a few days to go dress shopping, get fitted for a tux, hang out, etc.

So we are stunned to be bumped from our full-service living arrangements into fending for ourselves.  Oh. My. God.

Day 1. I bravely headed into the kitchen this evening to reheat the leftovers Mom left for us.  Yes, I can manage that.  I put the rice and broccoli dish on the stove to warm... Pyrex, low heat, no problem. 

I seem to have a burner dyslexia.  Not for the first time, I checked all the settings and noticed that I had left that particular element on scorch instead of warm.  So, I diligently take it off and walk away to set the table.

One step away and...BLAM!!!!!!  An explosion of Pyrex all over the kitchen.   Oh. My. God. 

No physical damage done to anything but the dish and food, unless you count my near heart attack.

Of course, Dexter has to rush over to investigate and is none to happy to be turned back..."I want to see!"

Not only is the dish ruined, but what the hell are we going to eat?!?!  Pull out the toaster - suck it up everyone.

NOW I'll be scouring the local emporiums clutching the surviving lid trying to find a suitable replacement for the 30 year old favourite casserole dish.  Fun!

Fingers crossed that tomorrow's re-heating experience goes smoother. :)

On the plus side, I did remember to mist the seedlings being nurtured in the basement.  Please God, let the heliotrope survived the four days.  Can I do it?!?!

Stay tuned...everything is completely under control.  Honestly.

Canasta outbreak...everyone stay calm

What with the multitude of diversions available to us right now, 'tis the season for canasta (for those who are interested).

As soon as the dishes are cleared, the cards come out and the teams are chosen.

Chris and I tag-team to share Dexter duty, so we all get a chance to play and Dexter doesn't crawl onto the table.

With my yoga excursion tonight, Aunt Julia joined in Dexter's Puzzle Party...'helping' him to complete a record number of puzzles and keep him entertained.

The kid is a puzzle MANIAC!  Chris can be found darkening the aisles of the local shopping emporiums looking for challenging treats to come home.

Another rockin' night on the farm. :)

All is well

Just got back from my yoga class...all stretched out and mellow.  More successful than last week.

I made the commute into Canora and pulled up to an empty studio with a couple fellow yoga-ists standing in front.  Missing instructor.  Hmm...

Now in the old days, I would have taken this opportunity to head to the nearest coffee shop with a trashy magazine and hang out for a couple of hours.

In these new days, the only option for hanging out was at Wong's restaurant, home of battered diner seating and hideous fluorescent lights.  It's quite popular though...whether it's due to lack of options or wonderful cuisine, I don't know.

I drove home.  Back in time for the bedtime rodeo.

Solo chores today

Balmy -25 today.  Peter was off to a curling bonspiel in Norquay, Dad on the tractor dropping bales and Chris was on Dexter daycare commute.  I was called up for chore duty.  So as Chris and Dexter headed into town I trudged over to the snow mobile.  With a whiplash roar (it goes from 0 to 20km instantly), I was off.

First, pass by Sam's buffet by the turkey coop, then off through the bush to the hay yard and corrals.  Dismount, pick up the pail of grain to give to the red bull.   Open gate, trudge through snow and head to trough.  Expecting bull to be quite keen on the grain, I looked around to be prepared to for potential nudging out of the way.

Bull is waiting by other trough.  Oops, sorry Bull, my bad.  Head over to correct trough and deposit grain.  Bull waits politely as I exit pen.  Not sure why this guy get extra rations, will inquire.

Remount and lurch out of hay yard and off to two spindly trees on the way to the water troughs.  These are the markers as to where to drop mineral block which have a tendency to look like another pile of poo in a field full of them.  Need a marker to keep an eye on the block so as to know to replace it when needed.  It's essentially a mammoth, 20kg prenatal vitamin.  All the ladies will be birthing starting in the next month or so.

Heave vitamin on the ground, remove mitts and try to get plastic off.  No problem. Reach out to remove paper label.  Turns out it's a very tenacious sticker.  Who STICKS a massive label to a lump of food?  THEY do, clearly.  On my hands and knees picking at stupid shredded label for some time.   Lose interest. Some of the ladies will be getting some extra sticky fibre too.

Roar off to the two water troughs, dismount and for the next 1/2 hour try to get fires lit underneath to (obviously) melt water and ensure the herd staggers through another day.

Clearly, I am not yet skilled at this particular task as I run through a great deal of the diesel and an obscene amount of matches trying to get decent blazes going.   How hard should it be?  Probably not as hard as I'm making it..

Ready to head out when I realize I forgot to chop the ice.  Can't leave it all to my timid little flames.

Forget freaking workout boot camps!  Want a work out...go chop something.  My GAWD am I out of shape.  Just lifting the freaking ax and putting no effort on the descent was exhausting.  Chipping relentlessly away, I finally did it, flung the ax in a drift and headed home.

Back past Sam's buffet, park and dismount outside the shop and staggered inside.

Now here I sit, sporting the latest in towel turban fashions updating the blog.

Must get to work.

Happy day, everyone. :)

The old red cow, she ain't what she used to be

Another moment please for an elderly red cow, who yesterday lied down and passed on today.  She served us well, was bountiful, lead a relaxed, grass-fed life.

Sam-the-dog is again rejoicing.  The arthritic cow was nearly gone...

Olympic stupor sets in

It's very impressive that every four years, after 10 minutes of viewing whatever is being served up, I become an expert judge.

I can see the stability, or lack thereof, of a mogul skiers knees.  I can detect the over correction of a speeding luger and cringe at the landing of a snowboard cross 'rider' who landed a little too hard on her toes.

The 'Lympics are here, the 'Lympics are here!

Thank God for the shake up in evening programming.  Despite Mom's best efforts to find 27 hours a day of "Two and a Half Men" episodes, she too was coming up short on fresh evening diversions.

So bring it on!  Okay...maybe not too much curling (sorry Mom, Dad and Uncle Peter)...but bring it on!!!

I liked it...I really liked it...

I watched every minute of the Olympic opening ceremonies and for the most part, really enjoyed it.

Good:
- kd lang singing Hallelujah*
- Bryan Adams*
- the whales swimming across the stadium
- most of the fiddling
- Sarah McLaughlin
- slam poet
- slam poem
- treatment of Georgian's terrible death
- enjoying some Canadian shmaltz
- the array of cool Canadians brought out for the occasion

Bad:
- Nellly Furtado's dress
- some of the fiddling
- opera-lady's rendition of the Olympic song
- flying over the prairie for a little too long...
- Georgian's terrible death
- the non-event drive of Wayne Gretzky through the streets.  After all that, throw Wayne in a pick up to go the abandoned part of the waterfront...really?!?
-...and of course special mention to the Height of AWKWARD... the missing cauldron... Next time, have a Plan B

* Yes, I know it's not cool to like Bryan Adams...and where has kd been for 20 years, but I lived in the athletes village during the Calgary 88 games and both of them performed in the village.  I saw kd in her sawed off cowboy boots and I happened to be coming into the village through security right behind Bryan Adams, so I sidled closer and pretended to be part of the entourage.  Very cool for an excitable 20 year old.

Now I'm older and generally less excitable, so it's nice to indulge in a little giddiness.  :)

Go Canada!

Blisters in fine form

Still basking in the happy glow of a nice excursion.  Apart from the blisters...

Impressed even ourselves

My sister Lisa and I impressed ourselves today.   We skied just over 7 km!  There's a great little place nearby called Good Spirit Lake with a groovy network of trails....and we went from one end to the other.  It took us the whole freakin' afternoon, but we did it.

As we were trudging along, I was pondering what little critters were leaving all the marks on the path, when I looked up, and what did I see?  A moose.  I'm pretty sure a huge beasty on long spindly legs that can disappear behind a twig is a moose.  And just to be sure, it pranced by again. Finally...after hearing reports all the time, I see a moose.  Yay!

That, along with some birds, was the wildlife quota for the day.

And the husbands and kids flourished in our absence too.

Bring on the Olympics!

Fuelling the dog - cow down, cow down

Let us all take a moment to remember the unnamed, aged, very arthritic heifer who had a long, very fruitful life, bringing forth many lovely organic calves over many seasons.

She passed away peacefully earlier this week from 'lead poisoning' while enjoying her morning hay.

Sam the Dog is enjoying his newly found bounty.

Digging Out

Fun for the whole family!