The Squirrel, Fuzzy,Maggie and Me

  The other day Fuzzy,me and Maggie were down hanging a brand new straight gate,no cussing no yellin went real smooth. Now around our place this scary very scary cause you know something is going to happen when things go so smooth its just not natural.
    Forgot to mention that Maggie is our new pup got her this spring,and trying to train her has been something else, or maybe she is training us but there is sometimes a bit of a battle of wills. Anyhow back to the story about the squirrel. Got the gate hung, and heading back up to the house,when Miss Maggie spotted the squirrel. Well she sent that poor little squirrel up the hydro pole so fast you would have thought it was a rocket. Fuzzy hollers keep the squirrel up there as he heads to the shop to get the air pistol, now I'm not sure who he was giving the order to but Mag and I both stood on duty and kept that squirrel up the post. Now Fuzzy hasn't had this pistol long and he doesn't use it much at all,not that I am making excuses for him but what a gong show.Mag and me have the squirrel right where he wants him and he shoots and we watch and he misses, fires again,missed by that much,fires again squirrel has had enough and makes a flying leap for the nearby feed bin lands on the roof. Mag goes round the back of the bin barking for all she's worth,Fuzzy goes into the bin and is hollering can you see it did it go under the lid. All I can think is please God don't let him shoot that thing in the bin, did I mention the bin is metal and round. Now Mr. Squirrel has more moves than a chicken full of ex lax, and as I'm standing on look out the little bugger came flying out of the bin and darn near landed on my head which caused me to let out a bit of a scream,Fuzzy bolts out of the bin,Mag comes running and the squirrel is headed for the loading chute with the other two in hot pursuit, me I'm just trying to keep a straight face as I'm thinking should have a video camera for America's funniest home videos.Fuzzy is hollerin "get around the other side see if you can see him" so being the good wife I am I do as I was asked and can see the little varmint coming through on of the pipes on top of the chute,telling the man what I see and trying to get out of the line of fire as little worried about his accuracy, cause what does he do, he shots again and misses. The squirrel comes out the pipe a little worse for wear and up another pole, Fuzzy shoots and this time stuns the little guy, he slides down the pole right to a very excited Maggie, well now that pup thought she hit pay dirt,wow a new play toy. For good while that squirrel was tossed around, shook, mulled to the point I think it died in self defense.
   With the excitement over and one less squirrel to cause damage around here, headed to the house to make lunch thinking I have got something to share with my friends, I hear Fuzzy say "darn I'm out of pellets" now I really had to get to the house or at least out of earshot cause I was ready to split a gut laughing all over again.My loving man needs some target practice.

This is our Miss Maggie May, she is an Australian Sheperd

Remembrance Day - Why I cry

 Yesterday was remembrance day, a day to remember the sacrifice that was made by so many so that we could have the right to choose how we live. I choose to remember most everyday and be thankful, but even more on November 11th, and yes I cry, every year that I can remember,I do not plan to, but my heart and eyes have a different plan.
     In our small community we have a remembrance service, and I have the honour to help with this day, We have our service and lunch to follow, put on by our church, this year we moved the service to the community hall to accommodate more people,. We are fortunate to have a Canadian Forces Base close by with many service men and women and their families choosing to live in our small community and they come out to support our efforts,some by taking an active role in the planning of our day,some by taking time to attend,God Bless Them All. One of these very special people I have come care for very deeply ,her husband is a proud member of the military and she is a proud supporter.I don't know if she would be to happy about it but I have come to think of her as one of my own. this young couple have had a very trying time lately with the loss of their home due to fire and all the upheaval that brings with it. At the time and since I have felt disappointed in myself as I feel I have not been there enough for these special people,as was not wanting to butt in, and hoped they would know I was just a phone call away. But once again I have strayed from the topic. Yesterday morning this lovely young woman arrives and has had some tears, and more are starting to come, she is given some hugs from one of the other woman and gets busy with what she has to do. Later one of my friends turns to me and asks what was wrong with said young woman, I had to stop and get over that this friend did not get it, yes she cares about this young lady or she would not have asked, but the fact is she did not get it.
    The service was very meaningful as always and even more special for me as we had a piper(I love the pipes). We were wrapping up the lunch and I was finding harder and harder to keep my tears at bay( OK so I lost it during the service a little bit but got it under control so that I could help with the lunch). When things slowed down could not hold it in any longer, decided to slip out the back door before the tears started so no one would see. Darn it I got caught, and the gentleman asked what was wrong, I sniffled back my tears and said "this happens on remembrance day to me". His next question was why, did you loose a family member or someone close to you? I was somewhat at a loss, but realized he did not understand so I gave him a quick answer as I could not explain to him at the moment the real reason,but in retrospect I guess I should have. Here is the reason I cry on remembrance day- I cry for the great sacrifice that young men made for this country 90 some years ago during the great war,and for the men who made the sacrifice during world war II, Korean conflict, and the men and women who made the sacrifice in Afghanistan.I cry because they chose to go a long way from their homes and families to fight for our freedom and to keep our country safe so we can have the opportunities we have. I cry for the ones who came home but would never be the same people they were when they left, their innocence left on a battle field in some far off place, the ones who came home with a limb or something else left behind. I cry for the families for their sacrifice.
        Always after this cry I try and remember to say a prayer to God for the people who made it possible for me to have the choice.
        So when you make your choices remember some one fought so you could make that choice, and maybe we should give a little more thought to our choices for them.
                                 Lest We Forget

Cattle,Kids, Fuzzy,and the Road Trip

 Last Friday Fuzzy,Thumper( the oldest) and I headed to the neighboring province to see Boo ( the youngest) for the weekend, also on the agenda were 4 production sales that we all wanted to attend. Our headquarters-Boo's place from there we could take short drives and hit the sales.
     The last time Boo was home,the sale catalogues for a weekend of production sales had arrived, we decided that it would be a perfect opportunity for us to have a bit of a holiday, visit Boo,see some of the sales and the country, we were telling Thumper about it and she thought she would like to join us so she could look for a purebred bred heifer, for her oldest who is starting 4-H this year and she is looking for an out cross from their bulls.(I also think she wanted to have some us time).She is a very lucky young woman who has the most special husband. he told her to come and he would babysit their three children,her father would never have done this. So the planning started, and the closer the weekend got the girls got more excited,Boo because we were finally getting out to her place,and Thumper because she was getting away,me and Fuzzy just the fact that our adult children wanted to do it with us.Thursday night Thumper phoned and asked when we would be leaving the next day, my answer was be ready anytime between 9 am and 4pm as you know your Dad, then Boo called when are you guys coming gave her the same answer as you don't push Fuzzy or he bocks.
     It strikes me funny how things have not change that much,even though the girls are older and have their own lives, and Fuzzy and I have had 30 years of wedded bliss together a trip still brings out all the craziness it did when the girls were still at home. Back then it was when are we going, how much longer, are we there yet, can't you drive any faster or you are going to fast( Fuzzy). This trip it was a series of text messages between the two girls, but pretty much the same thing that was said years ago with the pair in the back seat. We got there checked out Boo's place then went shopping and out for supper,back to the apartment to pour over the sale catalogues and make a plan of attack.
    Saturday morning started of like a regular gong show, one bathroom three women and one poor man,get the picture. the discussion turned to every ones sleeping patterns,snoring, who passed gas, and so on,crazy bunch! I was informed that my foot wear was no longer acceptable so before we could go to the sales I was taken to the western store for new boots,and the best was that they were on sale 50% off  yes, love a bargain and it turned out that was the only bargain of the weekend.Footwear purchased, and a tour of the dam to see where the flooding was and how bad it could of been down stream if they had not let some go, probably would have taken the dam right out, amazing.Quick stop back at Boo's for potty break, well was suppose to be quick(one toilet)not so quick, then off to the first sale, saw old friends, good cattle,but made no purchases as the sale was hotter than ---- well you know. We thought OK three more to go we will find something in Thumper's budget yet, and were very happy for the breeder.  Loaded back up in the super duty and headed down the road, make a quick stop to look at the cattle in the sale the next day,(Thumper fell in love). Back on the road to the next sale of the day, got there and it went pretty good too, but our girl had her heart set on some going to sell the next day. Now this country had had a lot of water this year, lot of crop not even sown, acre upon acre,and still water laying were there had not been before. Boo was the driver as she knew the country or at least we thought she did, her short cut turned out to take us on a 2 hour odyssey of back roads with no road closed signs till you came over a ridge and water, no road, its dark Fuzzy's loosing patience, Boo is apologizing and getting frustrated, but we saw lots of country and made it back to the city by 8:30 pm. Everybody got comfortable watch some TV then tried to get some sleep( apparently I am a very talented sleeper, yup I am told I can snore and grind my teeth at the same time). Next day the girls decided to color my hair before we went, thank God they did not get to playing nail shop like they used too, oh I'm wrong it was beauty shop.Thumper's luck was not good as the sale was even higher than the previous two, so nice for the producers after so long a period of bad cattle prices, but saw lots of people had some nice visits and laughs,was well worth it.Headed back to Boo's town and hit a restaurant she wanted us to see, food was great as was the place, going back there for sure.
    Monday and the last sale, maybe our girl would get lucky, Boo took her own car part way and jumped in with us and off to look at more cattle. No luck at this one ether as a lot of the breeding was the same as Thumper's and the rest were out of her price range. Back in the truck dropped of the Boo with hugs and kisses and a few tears and headed for home reviewing the weekend all the way,and Fuzzy and Thumper still stratigizing on what they could do for the next sales yet to come, first they can leave me home unless it is near our Boo, enjoyed it but had had enough. Went straight to Thumper's and saw our super son-in=law and grandchildren hugs and kisses and gifts for the kids, Thumper had picked up new quilted bibs for the kids to keep them warm doing chores this winter, and they fit just right, so lucky. Was a wonderful time for us so many memories made for Fuzzy and I we love our girls and it was so nice to have this weekend together, the girls may not entirely agree but that is okay.
( well I started this last week and life has gotten in the way of me finishing it all at once, hope it did not put you to sleep as sometimes lost my train of thought between chances to work at anything personal. We have been doing the fall weigh in of the calves and moving animals around, brought the baby bulls home to get ready for selling in the spring and put the herd bulls in their winter pasture, and just the regular cattle operation stuff. ) Hope all is well with everybody and take care!

Thanksgiving

Well Thanksgiving weekend has come and gone, what a busy and great time it was. I am thankful for everyone and everything in my life, and so thankful that God the father is there looking over me and his spirit is with me on my walk through this journey of life, so blessed.
     Last week I had the honour and pleasure to teach a couple of friends how to bake buns, so nice to be able to share time with them, we had a lot of laughs and good fun, the buns also turned out well, thanks girls for coming out, we as women need to get together more often and just enjoy each others company. The plan for our next get together is to make pies, won't our husbands think they have died and gone to heaven,lol. Men around here cannot seem to get enough pie, in fact around our house I am accused of only making pies to take out of the house to someone else or for something else, NOT TRUE! Fuzzy gets his share, my brother-in-law calls them eips as he claims he does not know what a pie is, but I know my sister, so this just another male thing. ( got to love them though).
     We also got some of the bulls moved out last week, took to to be sold as we were done with them, Fuzzy was especially delighted to get rid of the old black bull that spends time with one group of the commercial cows,as he and said bull have never ever got along,either I am plain stupid or the bull likes me but I have never had any trouble with him, but a man gets to close and he kinda gets a little bent out of shape and apparently quite nasty, oh well he is gone so no more worries.
     
     This weekend our youngest came home and it was so much fun to have her,she has a wicked sense of humor and cracks me up, and a very loving young woman. I think she thought that this weekend she spent more time cleaning up after me than doing anything else,but I guess over the years the roles were reversed.
    Saturday was the baby shower for a friend of the family, all babies are special but this one is very special as Mommy and Daddy had almost given up hope for one of their own when they learned that their little sprout was on the way. This little man is a very lucky boy as the love that surrounds him is limitless. Anyway ,crazy me when I found out about the sweet boy's pending arrival decided that I would make him a christening gown as a baby gift, but I could not start it until his arrival or even right after his arrival ,no I had to wait until the week of the baby shower and christening the next day( the mood was just not right) when will I ever learn. I also volunteered to make a cake for the shower, and had a very special cousin coming out for the weekend too.  Oh and also I told the oldest that I would make the buns and 24 hour salad and the pies for Sunday, and the christening was Sunday and our Rev. asked me to do a few things for that, which I am always happy to help anyone at any time, plus Fuzzy was doing a BBQ for a wedding on Saturday and the youngest and I had to help get things done for that.
      Sunday rolled around and I got up at 5 o'clock got the buns going, put the roast in the oven , made the pastry for the pies and a pot of coffee,and went to work on the finishing touches on the gown( had to take it to the shower not quite finished) very embarrassed but now I have learned my lesson and I will be better prepared from now on. Church was at 2o'clock and my wonderful son-in-law was picking me up at 1 o'clock so that I was there to help the rector's warden do up anything that had to be done. I had got 6 doz.buns made (the recipe) 4 pies , christening gown finished and with the youngest's help got the house tidied up before my cousin came, so we would have time for a visit before I left. I remembered that we would need warm water for the baptism, the youngest got the old tractor water jug that Fuzzy uses and filled it up for me as I knew it would keep the water warmer than anything else.( our church is 111 years old and has no running water) The only problem I forgot the silver pitcher to use at the baptismal font, did not realize this until later when the Rev. brought out this awful old jug that has seen better days and set it by the font, how embarrassing, but no one to blame but me. Of course our Rev. has a crazy sense of humour and had to make a comment about our wonderful jug to the congregation, a laugh was had by all. The wonderful little man was baptized and he was so good about it all. Thinking to myself as I looked on what a miracle and wonderful gift from God this child was I shed a tear or two. ( I have a slight problem, you see my tear ducts are to close to my bladder). After coffee and cake in the back of the church Son-in-law and I headed to his and the oldest's place for a great time with family. The oldest and her sister had everything ready and very nice also, Fuzzy and I are blessed with two amazing daughters.

MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM Autumn !

   Autumn has arrived in all her splendor ! How beautiful, God gave us such a wonderful setting for our preparation for winter, which can sometimes be so harsh. The mornings are a little cooler, but to see the sunrise amongst the gorgeous color of the trees and the earlier sunset, the last rays of sun twinkling through the leaves is amazing, people over the centuries have tried to capture the beauty of the fall, and some have done it well but you cannot beat the real thing. The Canadian geese and others are flying over in perfect precision and honking their goodbyes with a promise to return in the spring.The squirrels are busy chattering to one another as they gather their stores for the winter ahead, so very busy are they. We are trying to get everything ready ourselves, but also taking time to enjoy the beauty that surrounds us. I have a favorite spot at this time of year, out in one of our west pastures were we have the portable chute system set up for any work that has to be done with that group of cattle. There is a stand of poplars sheltering this area with a pond back behind,with a mixture of different willows to add interest. I never mind having to wait for the rest of the crew out there as it is so tranquill, and the beautiful scent whafting from the poplars,cows or a calf coming over to investigate , maybe even a bird or two singing in the trees, mmm.
     The feedlot cleaner is coming this week, trying to finish cleaning off the vegetable garden and get it worked up,finish working up the new perenial garden so that I can transfer some of the plants this fall yet. The pool is put away  to await next summer, The feed yard is starting to look a little fuller as more bales are brought home from the fields. The summerfallow has been worked up again, new pump houses are being organized to be built before the snow flies. Oh,and a number of other things as long as winter holds off Fuzzy will find more to do,but I guess if I am honest I will too.
    Fall or autumn always makes me crave homemade veg. beef soup with crusty bread or meatloaf and mashed potaoes and turnips.I want to bake and cozy up the place with throws and blankets over the arms of chairs and couches. I am even looking up books that I want to read later when it is dark so early you can't be outside working.Have found some new knitting patterns I want to try too.
    Out here in the country it is also a time for fall suppers put on in every little community around, the months of September and October you can find one every Sunday sometimes more,these are great fundraisers for the different groups,a lot of work but also a lot of fun is had in the kitchens and out as people may not have seen each other for quite awhile and it is a time to catch up.
    This Sunday our church is having our harvest home service, quite beautiful with all the harvest decorations and the service is very meaningful, and as hard as it is to believe thanksgiving will soon be upon us.
  I hope you are all enjoying the beauty that surrounds us, take a minute, look, listen,and smell!

Sunday Dinner

      Growing up Sunday dinner was such an important part of our lives, the table was dressed up a little more than usual and company was quite often invited in. The meat dish was very important as more was usually cooked so that there would be leftovers for lunches the rest of the week, so you could count on roast beef, pork roast,ham or on occasion a turkey or chicken. If we had chicken or turkey at the table you would also find a plate with baloney, as my father did not have an appetite for any type of foul.Roast beef dinners were my favorite as there was mashed potatoes, gravy, Yorkshire pudding,vegetables,and usually a salad, followed by some wonderful dessert that my Mom made so well. We would all be sitting there full and happy and my father would come out with one of his infamous sayings" well if the good lord had any better he would have saved it for himself". Usually we would be starting to feel a little uncomfortable and groan from making pigs of ourselves and mom would come out with Granny Lindsay's saying " well run around the wee house three times and make three muckle cracks and you'll feel brolly muckle fine", this would quite often crack us up and we would have a good laugh and forget about our discomfort. Occasionally she would bring out the creme de mint on special occasions, and anyone who wanted would have a liqueur glass of it. The Sunday dinner was quite often held just before Walt Disney Hour which came on at six o'clock, so we could all watch it,those were the days dad even went out and bought a color TV when they first came out because of Walt Disney and also the rose bowl parade, first on the block to have one.
    Later when my sister went to teach up north of our home town, she and some of her fellow teachers would stop in for Sunday suppers on their way back from the south. I will never forget the one poor girl who came, she was just out of college and I don't think she had ever experienced humor like my father's. The poor girl was seated next to dad and he was on a roll, he passed her the peas with the comment eat your greens they will make your milk better. Funny thing is we never did see that nice young woman again.
    Well time moved on and we married started families of our own, and traditions of our own and we were not home much for Sunday suppers with Mom and Dad as we both settled 250 miles south of home, but on the occasion we were there it was just as memorable and also for our families.
    My girls have grown up and moved out to have lives of their own, as it should be, and now it is just Fuzzy  and myself here. Sunday dinners over the years have changed, sadly it has just became another meal, mainly my fault as it just does not feel the same, but that is about to change. I have come to the conclusion that I have a nice dinning room and nice china,silver, crystal and they are not being used enough. The goal is that this fall and winter I am going to bring back Sunday Dinner even if it is just for the two of us, we deserve it and so does the dinning room, china,silver,and crystal,or at least that is what I will tell Fuzzy. We can start small and get back in the swing of it, and then we can maybe invite guests to join us, oh that will be fun, people other than just us ,Yes! So here is to the Sunday Dinner lets bring it back, yes we all have busy lives but it is important to be social and have a little formality in our lives.I will keep you posted on how it goes!

9/11 ,10 Years Have Come And Gone

     To quote Allan Jackson" Where were you when the world stopped turning on that September day".I remember the usual weekday morning routine. The radio was on, getting the youngest off to school planning out our day and getting ready for the oldest to go back to university to finish her last year of her diploma courses. Thinking to myself life is good, very quickly this was to change.It came over the radio that a plane had hit one of the towers of the world trade center,Fuzzy, the oldest and I headed to the living room to check it out on t.v. . I sat there in shock and disbelief as the second plane stuck the second tower, that was it, I knew I would not be accomplishing anything the rest of the day. The oldest and I spent the better part of the day on the couch watching and on my part praying for the people there and their families,I imagine the oldest was doing the same. Things where moving so fast, mixed reports about more planes and how the plane was downed in the field, the Pentagon being hit, where the president was and the one of many thoughts going through my head was thank God we live in Canada. What was I thinking, if it could happen to the Americans it could happen to us. I think we spent more time that week watching TV and listening to the radio than ever before, hoping and praying they would find more survivors, as I imagine many others did also.
           Well ten years have come and gone I have spent the last week remembering that terrible time in history, partly due to the fact that most television channels have been talking about it or had programing about it. How has it changed our lives, how it ended so many lives, and promising futures all changed in such a hideous act. We and our neighbors to the south had been going through life blissfully thinking things like that do not happen here in North America, but it did, and it changed the world in a very big way, some good changes some not so good.We saw our military go to Afghanistan on a peace keeping mission, which in my opinion became war, as we lost so many young people, and some came home physically injured and some with  physiological damaged which in my mind is worse. The border security was beefed up,now you need a passport to cross. Air flight security was tightened. and numerous other security measures were put in place. Has it made a big difference, considering the inconvenience or did we have it to easy before? Were the changes reactive or proactive, could it happen again?  All questions I am not sure of, but the one thing I am sure of I AM PROUD TO BE A CANADIAN. I am happy we live in North America, and I am thankful to all the people who work to keep our country safe.