I am back in Canada since Monday Aug, 27 2012 for 3 weeks of holidays. The weather is good, mostly sunny with more or less clouds and wind. I was surprised that I didn't have problems with a jetlag. Only the first night here I couldn't fall asleep. I finally went to sleep at 4 am and was up at around 6.30 am again. Well, now it's getting better. In the meantime I had two good nights of sleep. :) We are making hay. I am on the raking outfit. I like raking, some say it's boring. Well, I am thinking of differnt stuff, sometimes sing,.... depends on my mood. Well, today I am not raking I finished the last field yesterday. There need to get more grass cut and also the stuff I was raking needs to be baled.

log splitting

It was a nice sunny day today, only - 10 degrees. Our projects today were driving down to the sawmill and shove off logs of the trailer (I drove the tractor down to the mill), splitting wood, feeding cows and hauling cows. I got to split wood too :D I got a lesson on how to stand and how to split. It is not so easy like it looks... When my friends do it it looks so easy ! It needs lots of strength to hit the log and not only scratch on the surface... I hit one log in the middle and it split all the way :) I was really proud of myself :D In the late afternoon we jumped in the truck to haul cows. It was great to sit in the semi again ! I really missed that and I will miss all the road trips...

7 days

Another nice sunny morning, -12 degrees. The countdown is on... only 7 days to my big travel day ! :( Its a weird feeling after such a long time in Canada to go back to Switzerland. I will miss everyone and everything. And I know I always can come back ;D for more adventures in the beautiful country of the maple trees.

all started with a beautiful morning...

What a beautiful morning ! - 9 degrees and the sun is shining again... when it was time for feeding we went outside to do so. My friend made an awful discovery ! Magpie, the mare which was injured a couple weeks ago, died last night ! It was just terrible to see her laying there in the shelter ! What went wrong ? She did sooo good the last few days, even started to feeling better.... I still feel really guilty that I didn't go outside when I heard the dogs barking last night. But who knows... it could be wildlife (dangerous wildlife) they are barking at... or try to call us when something like that happens. We are all so endless sad about her death. Rest In Peace, Magpie !!

Already December

It's already December ! I can't believe how fast the time goes by. I only have 1 1/2 weeks left in the maple tree country :( It's snowing at the moment, big flakes by 1 degrees. Unfortunately, the wind is supposed to pick up again this afternoon... :( up to 30 km/h ! Not much fun to do stuff outside like that. The horses have a hard time to focus it you wanna work with them, there is the possibility that trees are coming down as well. We spent the last few days, always depending on the weather of course, trimming feet (stallions and geldings), playing around with the foal to get him used to wearing a halter, hang around, visit Kidd, my favourite Palomino,... it's good to enjoy a quiet time and not racing around all the time. Soon enough, this time will be over again...

howling ?! ...WOLF

When I was feeding today, suddenly there was this howling down in the bush. HOWLING !!! It sounded different then the howling from a coyote... which can only mean... WOLF !!! :D I asked my friend if she heard the howling too and if that would be a wolf. She was also standing and listening, and yes this is a wolf ! AWESOME ! This is the first time I ever heard a wolf howl. It stopped to howl after awhile and we finished feeding horses. I was already back in the house when my friend, who was still outside, came in the house and told me to come outside.... I thought 'oh they howl again' and raced outside. :) Sure enough, only this time it was the whole family. Yeeeeeessssssss !!!! It was so incredible. I decided to try to record the howling with my camera. Well, the only thing I recorded was the dripping of the melting snow and the dog's barking. It sounded like they are on the other side of the hill right after the texas gate. If I would go to the texas gate with the dogs I should be alright, right ?! So, that's what I did. I grabbed my camera and flashlight, called the dogs and walked toward the texas gate. The neighbour's dogs were at their drive way and were barking like crazy at us. I never met the male dog, not in the daylight or at night time, and so I didn't go closer. I stood in the middle of the road, in the dark with the dogs around me, listen to the howling. I really enjoyed it...

foggy morning

This morning, - 10 degrees and foggy. A nice view... The little boys, Smokey and Bright eyes and Mikey out in the field were pretty frosty :) I really liked Mikeys frosted eye lashes, he looks so handsome :D Maggie is doing good so far... She ate her breakfast with the drugs, drank all her water and looks pretty bright even her hind legs are pretty swollen and must be pretty sore. As soon as it's getting a bit warmer we will wash her butt and belly to get all the dried blood off of her.