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.

Injured !

Two days ago one of the mares injured herself. Somehow she managed to poke a branch in the inside of her thigh. I didn't see it when it was in there, I was in the house. Maggie needed to get a treatment in the vet clinic. I stayed at the farm to feed everybody. A couple hours later my friend came back, Maggie had to stay at the clinic. The stick was long..., holy ! She lost a lot of blood ! Poor girl. The next morning we could pick her up again. She was quiet, just munching her hay, glad to go home again. Magpie loaded good in the trailer, I bet she knew we will bring her home. Back home, we put her in a shelter which is fenced off, so she can go out of the shelter little ways, still can't walking around too much. Here as well, no fussing at all. I guess she is still too sore ! She eats the food really good even there are antibiotics in there. Maggie is talking to her friends left and right from time to time... even has company at night. The dogs keep her company in the shelter. I took a night shift last night, checking on Maggie to see if she is fine. No signs of colic or more bleeding.

Tsktsk

Winter is here. The temperatures are between - 11 and -28 degrees at the moment. Sometimes with blue sky and sunshine and other times, like today, cloudy. It's only - 21 degrees today. We worried about one of the cats, Tsktsk. She wasn't around yesterday at all. :( Usually, she is around the house at 9 am when it's time to feed the horses. Not so yesterday ! I walked around calling her in the morning and evening, no Tsktsk. :( She is such a cool cat, and she likes to talk. It would be sooo sad if an owl would have her for breakfast... Today, I called her again this morning during feeding time... still no Tsktsk. I went back in the house after chores and put my shoes and gloves beside the fire to let them dry, look out of the window and there she is :) beside Maddie !!! We were so happy to see her. Poor girl, something must have chased her up a tree.

to Edson again

It was time to go back to Edson again. We met my friend in Entwistle, had lunch and picked up horse and chicken feed on our way home.

cow work

Thursday / Winfield, After 11 hours of sleep I felt pretty good. My friends and I were sitting in the living room and had breakfast. Over night we got a big load of snow :( (I looked out of the window and my first thought was REALLY ???) and so several clients cancelled their booking. So, my friend decided to separate his own calves from the cows and bring them to the auction. It was pretty chilly. Unfortunately, I didn't bring my ski pants :( Finally, the calves were loaded and we hit the road to drop them off at the Rimbey auction. Our next project was to pick up two loads of calves from a client. These guys also went to the auction in Rimbey.

Elk haul II

Tuesday/ Wednesday. Another elk haul was scheduled. This time, we picked up the first half of the load in Spirit River and the other half in Leduc. No snow on the roads, ditches and fields had a bit. We had a good time, good interesting talks, I really enjoy to travel in this semi truck with my friend. As soon as all the elks were on the trailer, we only stopped for bathroom breaks and to get food. This time I wasn't that tired. I slept for around 1 1/2 hours and had a nap around 1 am. We had to be in Fort Macleod at 6am. I really hoped that I don't have to help unload this time.... I was lucky there were at least two other persons there to help.... I stayed in the truck and entertained myself with music. After around an hour or so we were done and could hit the road again. Our next stop was A&W to have breakfast. The next thing on our list was sleeping. After 3 hours of sleep we decided to drive some more and have a nap again before we drove through Calgary. On our way home we detoured to Ponoka to pick up a load of cows at the auction mart. They had to go to a place close to Leduc. Now, it was time to go home and to bed.

4 weeks...

I just realized that I only have 4 more weeks left in Canada. :(:(:(:(:(:(:(  The time just flies when you're having fun. So far, it was a great experience, lots to learn, good and bad, lots to see... I am glad that I took all the chances to do things even it meant to be on the road almost everyday. I enjoyed every second of my stay !

tagging and give injection

Saturday, over night we got around 3 cm of snow :( My friend decided to give the calves an injection so they won't get sick after the long walk home and the weather change and also tag them. There wasn't enough of the drugs and so we had to make a trip to get more. While we were gone to buy drugs, three of my friends rounded up the cow and calves. So, everything was ready. My job was to assist with the tagging and make sure the syringes were filled up. I really enjoyed to help. I like that. We all were hungry and headed for the house. Soon, it was time to pack up all the stuff again, load the horse and head back to Edson.

cattle drive and snow

Friday, getting ready for the cattle drive. We had to be ready to roll at noon... saddle horses, put all the needed gear in the truck, get the truck ready as well :) Finally, everyone arrived and we could load horses and people and get going. Our next project was rounding up the cows which were all over the pasture. I rode Buddy, one of my friends horses. I rode him before so I shouldn't have problems with him... and he was used to cows. Well, after awhile we ran into some issues together and I had a hell of a time to keep him quiet. And I wasn't so sure if he is not starting to buck. Two of my friends and I managed to push two bulls and a few cows and calves in the direction they had to go. Buddy was doing good so far. Soon, I got more and more problems with him which was really annoying !! I looked forward to a nice cattle drive !!!! Our problems multiplied from minute to minute and I got more and more annoyed all the way to the point I decided to walk not to ride. I stopped Buddy to get off. He only started to move again as soon as I was on my way down... so I lost my balance and hit the ground ! I was sooo mad and so I grabbed the rope and made him walk as fast as I could to keep up with the cows. We caught up and stayed there for the whole 6 miles. We were so tired and I had a big bruise coming up on my thigh. After putting the horses away we went in the house to have something to eat. Soon it was time to hit the road toward Edson. My friend and I loaded everything and the horse in the truck and trailer and off we went. On our way I called my friend to tell her when I will be home again and she said that it's snowing like crazy in Edson. We decided not to take the chance to hit the ditch with the horse trailer, so we turned around and headed back to Winfield to spent the night there and try again the next day.

build a boardwalk and last cattle haul

My day started pretty slow... After deciding what we are doing today, everyone took off in different directions to start their projects. I didn't really have one, so I decided to go outside and give one of my friends a hand moving the motor home. Next project for me was to help build a boardwalk between the church and the outhouse. I still had a hard time breathing and so had to take it easy. I am so sick of these stupid bugs !!!! :( I really hope they will go away as fast as they moved in ! Around 2 pm a pasture haul was on the program. I took the chance to help 'cause it would be my last cattle haul :(:(:(:( I will miss to go haul cattle in the semi truck.... Well, maylbe I have the chance at the end of the month to go on an elk haul. We'll see... We were back home around 4 pm and after feeding us we headed back to the church to finish the boardwalk before the dark. Unfortunately, it's dark around 5.30 pm. We made it, got the boardwalk built before it was too dark. Another project is half finished. The part we did today was more important then the next part.

visit in Winfield

I am in Winfield until Friday again. On Friday is the cattle drive which I look forward to :) I got a ride with my friend to a spot outside of Entwistle and there, my other friends picked me up. We went to Stony Plain to buy pieces for a stove. After a stop at Arby`s we went home. I am still fighting with my bugs and so I wasn`t really in the mood to do something in the cold. I decided to put some parts for the fan together.

Feather at her new home

Yesterday, we delivered Feather to her new owner. She was a good girl when it came to go in the trailer :) Feather didn't have a lot of trailer loading practice. She also was good when we reached the new home and it was time to get out of the trailer. No hurry to get out of it at all... We were so proud of her. Neira, another of the Starmyri Horses, is at the same place like Feather. Both were happy to see each other again. The barn owner has a donkey stallion. He started to talk as soon as Feather was out of the trailer...  She wasn`t impressed with this unfamiliar sound ! You could see on her face `wow, what is THAT !?!?' But she was good and didn't try to run away. Feather and Neira were together across the donkey in a pen when we left the property. We still don`t have snow yet which is a record ! But I guess we will get snow sometime this week... :( I really don`t look forward to that.

lots to do and making mud

We are more or less busy everyday. Feeding in the morning and evening, work with horses,  go to town for groceries, split some more wood and other farm stuff. We always have a good time. The weather is more or less sunny and since today chilly. It was - 12 degrees this morning. A liiiiittle chilly. The ducks and chickens have to wait till it's a bit warmer before they can go out. I had to laugh at the duckies... They use their water bucket to make mud :D That's so funny !

back in Edson at the 'Funny Farm'

I am in Edson since yesterday again. The weather is still good, a bit of a wind. We took it easy today, fed animals, visited and split wood. I met Curly (mostly white) and Norman (brown-white), the two little goats. Curly has lots of interesting ideas where to put his nose in :) and he is a real talker. The wood splitting was a nice job and it was fun too. And I also met some old friends again. Maddie grew up to a nice dog. I also met the 2011 foal, Wildfire. He is such a handsome boy.