last month

My second day of work, people came to have a look at the property today. We had to clean and tidy up everything. One horse went home and one was delivered to his new owner. I will miss him :( Tomorrow, my last month of work will start. It feels a bit weird but also exciting. I work 4 days, 3 days off, 3 days on and then.... 8 days of holidays :D And the plan is to go to the mountains, finally ! ;D I can't wait ! And then back to my last 2 weeks of work....

tight schedule

A busy day waited for us today, Monday. We left the house at 8 am to pick up railroad ties near Stoney Plain. It took us around 2 hours to load all the pieces on the truck. There were around 200 ties and some were pretty heavy. I had to be careful not to wreck my wrist even more... good thing we didn't have to lift the up on the trailer, a guy was there with a bobcat. After loading ties, bring them home, unhook the trailer and hook up the cattle trailer, head over to help move heifers we had to pick up 2 loads of cow-calf-pairs. One went to a pasture and the other once to the auction. A little later tonight we have to pick up one more load of heifers and bring them to the auction too. And after this run it's my turn to head back to the barn where my work days start tomorrow again....

porcupine quills

Sunday and nice weather. 10.15 or so we headed down to the church for the service. I really enjoyed to have off on a Sunday again which means relax, visit and just do some light work... Unfortunately, two of the young horses had porcupine quills in their noses. Poor little guys. So after church we had to pull them out. Decker wasn't so happy about the pain in his nose when we pulled the quills out. Soon, he didn't wanted to be around us anymore. We had to move him and his friends down to the shoot and pull the quills out. Poor guy had around 9 quills in his nose ! It was pretty warm outside and you got sweaty when you only did light work. I don't like that. We had a nice visit with a friend of us and ate hot dogs in the evening. The day just flew by like crazy and soon bed time was it again...

finally, part of the weekend off

Saturday evening I was off again. I really needed it, my muscles are tense and my tendons ache again. I needed some time off ! After picking up a generator and supper (popcorn shrimp and french fries- yummy !) we arrived at the farm. The days are already shorter and it's dark around 9.30 pm :( Summer is almost done ! Some trees already have yellow leaves...

swim in the pond

I am off now for Monday and Tuesday, thank god ! I really need it. My evening off started with a swim in the pond. It was nice so just hang in the tube and relax. I didn't like the weeds at all. It was almost everywhere... There are two ponds, a small and a big one. The big one has one fish in it. After our little workout and another shower we had supper and ice cream for dessert. The next workout was coming, this time a volley ball game. It was almost dark but still we had a lot of fun playing. Tired from all the workouts we sat in front of the tv and watched a movie till it was bedtime.

hot days, summer is here

My days at work were long and sometimes it looked like we can work and work but the work is not getting less... I don't like days like that, the only thing you get accomplished is getting more and more frustrated. Yesterday and today was nice hot weather. No cloud in sight this morning when I walked over to the barn for breakfast. It promised to get a hot day ! It was 29 degrees outside and inside the barn 25 degrees. Way too warm for me !! I was glad when I was done and could have a nice shower to cool myself down.

raking or not ?!

The day started with nice weather at around 7 am, unfortunately clouds moved in again. :( And they stayed... So, no raking for me :( the hay wasn't dry enough. Instead of raking or baling we brought salt to the cows, fixed a gate which two fighting bulls took out, chased a few cows and calves out of a hay field, fixed more fence and picked up a tractor in the one hay field which had a transmission problem. We were pretty busy...

sunny day and moonshine walk

A nice sunrise this morning. Then some clouds came in again but got blown away soon. Sunshine and windy... a nice summer day - haying day. After checking the next hay field on the list I started raking a few rows in one field on the other side of the highway. I didn't think raking could be so much fun :) I even drove in the second gear ! Before, I only was brave enough for the first gear ;D When I was done raking all the rows we switched over to another field which was ready to get raked too. I enjoy to sit on the tractor and drive rounds after rounds and make nice big piles of hay. It looks so nice. I hope the weather stays nice during the night and so I will do some more raking tomorrow. Our next project was fixing the tractor with the cutter. It had water in the fuel tank. It was already 7 pm. One of our friends came over to have a look at a tractor which is for sale at the one neighbour's place. We met him on the road and went home to have a visit and a cup of coffee. It was still a nice evening and so we decided to eat our supper outside. Everybody moved down to the camp kitchen. The moon was really nice and bright. A few clouds around... I got the idea to go for a moonshine walk down to the saw mill. My friend joined me. I really enjoyed the quiet and all the sounds from the night. Horses, cows, wind, crickets, just awesome ! I really will miss that when I have to go back home !!

worry...

It's already day 3 again and soon I am off... Unfortunately, Mavis was sick last night. I didn't see her the whole day but this is not unusual when there are lots of dogs in the barn. She doesn't really like dogs ! But unusual is that she is not there around 3.30 pm / 4 pm. Most of the time she finds me and then stalks me to make sure that I feed her before I leave. Not yesterday ! Well, I thought she is busy hunting or sleeping in the shade 'cause it was pretty hot. I was looking for her at 6pm when I went to the barn for my supper... no Mavis around ! The next time when I went over to the barn to do night check she was laying in the flower bed on her favourite spot. Weird was that she didn't jump up and came to greet me ! I went inside and fed horses, thought she will follow me inside... Mavis was still laying in the same spot when I came outside to count horses and fill up Cuties water bucket. So, I knew for sure that something is wrong with her... I picked her up and brought her in the barn. Poor little girl ! I had no idea what to do and so I called my friends to ask for help. Well, it's hard to say what's going on when you can't see the cat. I put fresh water beside her and left her in the barn so she is safe from the coyotes. Today, when I came in the barn at 6.30 am she was still laying on the hay bales but looked fresh and not so tired anymore. She even wanted her breakfast ! Good sign. :) After a little nap after breakfast she went outside and went hunting again. Mavis spent the whole afternoon in the yard. Around 3.30pm she found me outside, sat on the hay bales in the wheelbarrow to make sure I wouldn't forget to feed her. I had to catch two more horses and when I came back inside somebody was asking pretty loud for her supper ;D Looks like Missy is feeling good again :D

wet day... time for stuff on the farm

I couldn't do some more raking the next day :( too wet ! There was a pulpit which needed a face lifting. Both sides were open and everybody could see through it, so it needed a wall on the one side. That was our next project for the moment. I was varnishing the wood. We had to wait till it was dry and I needed to buy food anyway and so we decided to have a nice lunch, buy food and fuel in Falun. The afternoon wasn't over yet when we returned from the trip, time for a second coat of varnish on the pulpit :) And while we were cleaning up afterwards I had the idea to put up fans in the church. This was a project which was on the 'to do' list since a while ago and I should help. We only put one fan up yet, work like that is hard on the back ! :( I was just swamping 'cause I would have to climb up a tall ladder... and this wouldn't be a good idea, I am afraid of height....

lazy morning, busy afternoon

My first day off started pretty easy. After breakfast I got comfortable on the sofa and read a book (well, not a whole one...). Around 10 am I made two bottles for the brat (heifer). She was hungry like always and pretty demanding too. Next project was feeding the guys out in the field and take down the stage in the arena, still there from the Camp Meeting. After lunch we took off to the hay field to check the hay if its too wet to bale. It was good and so I got the job to rake one row in another. It sounded pretty complicated first but when I tried it it was actually fun. I really hope I can do some more raking tomorrow again :)

three days of running

After a busy Monday morning and a normal work day today I am off again. This time I really need some peace and quiet... ! The last three days were just busy and even more busy. I am almost exhausted. I am glad I can take it easy and will go raking hay in the afternoon. I will enjoy a lazy morning ;) well, maybe there is something else to do and I wont be lazy at all... ;D I have to recharge my batteries somehow...

jumping show and colic

Another busy day, Jumper show. I found the one horse with a colic in the morning. After feeding the other horses I did acupressure on him and got his gut going again. Still, he wasn't getting better, it seemed that he was feeling better and then the pain came back... So, I did more acupressure and walked him for around 2 1/2 hours till the vet came. More walking and two injections and still he wasn't better ! The vet said he needs to go in the vet clinic for more treatment and clarification of whats going on. Poor guy ! You could see when the pain came back he was like a tanker 'let's goooooo !' and he just took off. I was tired after my work out with him in the pasture. The afternoon was a usual one when there is a show. Pick outdoor stalls, feed, answer questions, deal with rider, get horses in and sweep. A looong day !! I really hope my next two days will be normal long !

day in town and fixing a baler

Yesterday, we went to town, Wetaskiwin, for a 'parts-hunt'. The baler needed a few new parts and it's better to have parts in stock at home if you need them... And I had to do some business in town too. We left home around 10.30 am and were home around 5 pm. It was a loooong day in town. I was soo tired. Next project was to take the pickup and bring fuel to the guys in the field who were baling the whole day. I took the chance to be on the tractor during baling. Unfortunately, something got stuck in the baler and there was black smoke coming out of the baler !! Something wrong.. ! One of the belts had a problem and heated up the one metal roll. Okay... next thing is to fix this thing. The three of us spent around 2 hours to fix the baler. My job was to make sure all the bolts are there. It was interesting see how you can change a belt.

move cows, trail ride and grand opening

My day off started with a nice little breakfast, cinnemon toast and tea. After that I fed the calf her breakfast. She was demanding like everytime when she hears that I mix her milk. :) She is so cute ! Our next project was to saddle horses and move cows and calves from the pasture along the road down to the lease. I rode Dusty again. We had a little discussion but then everything was good and we had a good work out. We decided to check cows down in the lease and go for a nice trail ride. It was nice sunny weather, little cloudy and a nice breeze. We made sure the little group we dropped off in the lease find their buddies which are already there. In the group we moved was also a bull... he thought he is the king and started to holler as soon as he heard or smelled the other bulls. Soon, there was a bull fight going on. I made sure I am not close ! We left the cows fighting or visiting with each other and took off for a trail ride. It was great to sit on a horse again. I really missed it ! ;) The ground was just wet and some wet spots so deep. Dusty was up to his knees in the one mud hole ! Poor guy ! After lunch we headed down to the hay field raking the hay. We waited for the baler to come down too. Unfortunately, it was too wet to bale yet... so we decided to go to Edmonton. There opened a new outdoor store today. It's an outdoor/hunting/fishing/hiking/camping store. They have nice bedding :) Lots of stuff with moose pictures on ;) It was amazing to see all this different things and soon you are just tired from watching... Next thing was getting food ! Chinese food and for dessert ice cream ! It was a great day, I really enjoyed it and we were laughing a lot ;D

more haying

Another 4 days of working are gone and I am off again. Nothing special happend during my work, like before the Quarter horses went to a show from Wednesday and will be back on Sunday again... Less work for us but nothing exciting.... After my work was done, I ate an ice cream and off we go to rake hay. First, we had to get the rake greased up. I drove the truck over to the hay field again. Then, it was my turn to drive the tractor to rake the hay from one spot closer to another row. I don't like this tractor to stop it you really have to jump on the breaks... :( I don't really trust it either. Oh well, I made one round to move the 6. row. The corners are a bit tricky. It takes some practice to get all the hay moved in the corner. I got one out of 4 corners ;D Patience and practice is needed. If the weather stays nice we will start to bale tomorrow :D