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.