Life on an Acreage

Two Down, One to Go

2012-02-10T16:23:00.000-07:00

Before

I'm trying to spread out the farrier work, mainly to ease up on the old back. Biz's hoof's were slightly splayed, a little long in the toe, and in need of a frog clean up.

After

The after shot shows her still a little long in the toe, but without the "duck foot" appearance.

Before

The frog was a mess, with the growth growing out, and causing a pocket for crud to catch in and possibly cause bacterial growth. Not good! The nail was about 1/2 inch longer than it should be.

After

A good frog and nail trim shows the hoof the way it should be. Good to go for another 8 weeks, or 100km, whichever comes first. The nail is still a little long to give some better traction. She can rest up Friday, then maybe a little ride on Saturday would be in order.

In case you are wondering about the striped hoof, it is a characteristic of an Appaloosa.

Wordless Wednesday..1970

2012-02-08T14:51:00.001-07:00

Winter "Flowers"

2012-02-07T10:58:00.001-07:00

Some people get excited when the first spring flowers come out. We get to look at these flowers all winter long, generally they bloom every couple of weeks. Like most, they do not last long. The sun is an enemy, not a friend.

It does make for some pretty scenery though. The temperature this morning was -20C (-4F) and the wind has changed to the north east. The moisture in the air was knocked out and we can expect a cold front and maybe some snow to wander through. Yeah, more time to play with the equipment.

The neighbour's horses way over yonder do what horses do, eat and eat no matter what the weather is like.

Note the nicely ploughed driveway! The chains on the quad really work well and I can plough uphill and down with ease.

Life is really good on the Acreage!

Getting Caught Up!

2012-02-06T15:57:00.001-07:00

The great weather continues and although I didn't get any riding in yesterday or today, I did manage to get some projects done.

A Round To It

As "The great Procrastinator", I have managed to postpone some jobs for several years (or more). One job was to fabricate a welding table. I had all the material for about 8 years but never seemed to get a round to it. That changed today! I completed it!

The next job was a recurring one that involved trimming some horses feet. Tucker was the first ~~victim~~ candidate and she did well. I took off about 3/4 inch of nail, trimmed up the frog and pared out the sole. She was real good about all the attention. Tomorrow is Biz's turn.

Tomorrow's job has been on the honey do list for 8 years, namely replacing some screens that have holes in them. I can't see the urgency, as I haven't seen a mosquito in months. Ah, well, She Who Must Be Obeyed, should get some consideration, mosquitoes or not. I was kind of hoping to hold off and make it the project of the decade. Guess I should just bite the bullet and do it.

My helper stayed by my side and gave a certain amount of encouragement. She also enjoyed a feast of horse nails and sole. Dogs!

Spring? Continues

2012-02-04T14:35:00.000-07:00

At plus 6 C (43F), I decided to take a break and go for a ride. The day was bright and sunny, and the road ways, and fields were not very icy. Biz was the victim of choice, and let it be known that
A: It was warm,
B: She was tired,
C: Her buddies were not going with her.
D: Did I mention it was warm?

Anyway, once ~~awakened~~ saddled up, she was very cooperative. A few turns around the pasture and then the open road. There is a pretty good hill going south from our place and she decided that she wanted to lope it. I figured that it was a good way to burn off some extra energy. After that we trotted down a subdivision side road and a big field. That got her sweating and wanting to return home. Her toes are in need of a trimming, but served real well as anti-slip extensions on the hard pack. With the country around here, we let the horses go barefoot year round. Knock on wood, I have not had a horse go down yet.

The picture is a before one. The after one of a sweaty, rolled in the snow horse was not very flattering.
The question to be answered, " Who is the worst out-of shape, Biz or me?"

Tomorrow will be the answer. Fortunately, there is church in the morning and the Superbowl in the afternoon. Perhaps the next victim will be Alpine. Tucker is in heat and I prefer not to ride an 1100 pound horse with attitude (PMS?)

Nostalgic Thursday

2012-02-02T08:28:00.000-07:00

As part of converting about 3000 slides to digital format, I came across this shot of a PBY, Catalina, or as we knew it in Canada the Canso. This one was used in the late 60's to ferry passengers from Minneapolis, Minnesota to Kenora, Ontario then on to God's lake, Manitoba. It was a real workhorse and one of my favourite planes. Unfortunately, I haven't seen one on 30+ years. This was taken in downtown Kenora at the Ontario Central Airline's dock. My good friend who went on to fly for Air Canada for about 19,000 hours piloted this unit on water bombing missions, until he got his chance to play with the "Big Boys".

Now and again while scanning slides, I get distracted by shots like this. It tends to slow production.

Oh, well, all in a day's work.

A Little Ride

2012-01-26T15:51:00.000-07:00

It went up to the freezing temperature today, and being as caught up as I ever get around here, I decided to take Alpine out for a bit of a ride. She knows all the tricks to prevent a rider from mounting. We worked through that.

She really did not want to leave to the herd! We worked through that too.

All in all, a good hour or so well spent.

It was a busy time yesterday and today. We went over to Edson and picked up a new (well, new to us) SUV for Elaine. The all wheel drive is great in the snow and on the hills around here. It appears that I might have banked some "Atta boys" for future need.

I also managed to strip 4 teeth out of the main drive sprocket on the quad. That required about an hour's worth of work in the field doing enough repairs to get back to the garage. Now I have to re-do it when the new sprocket comes in. I guess when the sprocket comes in, that will eat up one of the "atta boys". Or maybe more than that!

The next 10 day forecast is all around the freezing point which is good as I plan to wear off some of the fat on the horses.

Only 54 days 'till spring!
Bring it on!

Wordless Wednesday.. 1976

2012-01-25T14:57:00.000-07:00

Warm Horses = Happy Horses

2012-01-23T17:27:00.000-07:00

The temperature jumped to +2C and it was sunny out! What a change from 2 days ago! Biz was enjoying the heat by sleeping most of the day, getting some rays.

Tucker did much the same. Life is simple when you have a human supplying food at decent intervals.

Alpine was looking for a mirror. The bangs are getting ridiculous.

However they are a natural fly shield in the summer. Not many bugs around here now, though.

All in all, a relaxing day!

Official Notice

2012-01-22T15:10:00.000-07:00

CANADA - Extreme and wacky weather continues as RECORD LOWS hit parts of Canada. Coast-to-coast, Canadians continue to deal with 'weird and wacky' weather. Freezing rain, severe wind chills and mild temperatures persist across the country, with temperatures dropping in the West and winter storm warnings hitting much of the East. Bitterly cold weather has helped Alberta has set a new record for electricity demand. On Monday around the supper hour, demand peaked at an all-time high of 10,609 megawatts, which beat the previous record set Sunday.
On Wednesday, record lows hit Alberta as arctic air moved east. Edmonton faced a severe wind chill of about -43 C while Calgary expected a chill of -35 C. Bitterly cold air combined with a westerly wind of 15 to 30 km/h will produce wind chill values in the -40 to -49 C range in southern Saskatchewan throughout Wednesday and into Thursday. Winnipeg also got a blast of winter as temperatures were set to hit -36 C. At these extreme values, frostbite on exposed skin can occur in less than 10 minutes.

This is an excerpt from
http://globaldisasterwatch.blogspot.com/

This is not the sort of records that I like to see. We are only 1 1/2 hours from Edmonton, and pretty much matched what they saw.

On a more cheerful note, do you realize that spring is only 2 months away? Wahooo!

Bring it on!!!

Supplimental Feeding

2012-01-19T16:52:00.003-07:00

At -27C, the horses are doing well. They used the shelter a bit, but greatly enjoyed the extra rations. They got an extra half bale of hay and a quart of sweet feed each ( rolled oats and molasses) for the extra energy required.

When they see the feed pails on the way, they try to see who can get there first. So far, they have respected my space and I haven't been bowled over. Tucker generally wins the race, but is moved off by Alpine, and Biz gets fed last. Then they reshuffle, thinking that the other's pile is better. It does get exciting in the pasture at times.

Boots takes it all in stride and stays clear. Brooklynn, however, likes sweet feed and received her first major run off by Alpine. That's why there is no picture of her.

It's supposed to be warmer by Saturday. Yaaaahoooo!

Wordless Wednesday

2012-01-18T13:24:00.001-07:00

Digging Out and Freezing

2012-01-16T16:01:00.000-07:00

Winter hit with a bang on Saturday with a 6 inch snowfall (15 cm) and a dive in temperature. Our unseasonable period seems to be over. For the next two weeks highs are expected to be -26C and lows in the -31C range. With the winds that we can expect we will likely see wind chill factors in the -40 to -45C range(-40 to -48F).

The offer made last year to trade Acreages in February with someone in the deep south is still open. Any takers?

I include a couple of shots of the place. The pictures are nice, but don't show the cold. One good thing is the horses aren't slipping on the ice anymore, and are a lot happier, and mobile. They are also eating an extra 10 pounds of hay each, just to keep warm.

Tomorrow, I will likely give them a pint of rolled oats each for added calories.

I took the pictures at -26C. That's all the shots I got before the camera froze up

Have fun and think warm!

Humph!

2012-01-10T08:23:00.000-07:00

Now when you look at me,

how can you say I am fat!

I am NOT fat.

I am not even circumferentialy challenged!

I am just fluffy!

( and lovable)

Happy March...Oops!

2012-01-09T13:40:00.001-07:00

Oops, it's only January 9! Here we are once again at +10C (50F) and the water is running off the fields, the trees are budding, and the grass is showing! Talk about a mixed up climate! The "normal" high for this date is -7C ( 20F).

For a link that offers a good explanation as to what is going on with the North American weather, drop into Global Disaster Watch. She offers some really neat stuff.
http://globaldisasterwatch.blogspot.com/

The fields are really slippery and the horses are not moving around much. Mind, you, they are a lazy bunch to start with, eat drink, and sleep, repeat.

Apocalypse 2012

2012-01-07T13:30:00.002-07:00

The CBC television station carried a special called "Apocalypse 2012", on DOC Zone. it was kind of interesting to see how the Mayan calendar is being interpreted by some. Apparently the calendar runs out on December 21, 2012 and that is supposed to be the end of the world according to these people. The Mayans devised a calendar that lasted about 5000 + years, so the speculation is that when it runs out, disaster comes.

It is kind of interesting to see at what lengths people are going to to be prepared. Folks are building skyscrapers underground at a cost of $1.5 million per floor. Back yard shelters are in vogue again, and lots of people are making money selling these things. It kind of reminds me of the days of the Cold War when folks were building bomb shelters,or Y2K when all financial and manufacturing systems were going to melt down and global ruin would occur.

The fear of dying was prevalent in the program. Now, Doomsday has been predicted by several religious sects in the past, and people have sold everything and made themselves ready for the end. It didn't come!

It struck me, that if the end were to come on Dec. 21, why are these suppliers selling these shelters? It must be to make money. What good will money be after Dec. 21? Seems weird to me!

With what is going on in the world regarding the breakdown of social, moral and ethical standards, it is likely true that we are in the end times. Accepting that, when Jesus was asked when His second coming would occur, He replied that no man but the Father knows the time and place. He also warned us to beware of false prophets even those that are performing miraculous acts, and that many would be deceived. He told us to carry on, not to fear or be deceived.

The fear of death seems to be on the rise in this world among non Christians. As a born again Christian, I do not fear death as I know what the promise by God to me is. I would welcome the scenario as promised in the Bible.
Am I in a hurry to check out? Definitely not, as I enjoy the blessings that God has granted.

I am putting the program down as a scare mongering one, again to help others get rich.

Enough, Already!

2012-01-05T17:04:00.000-07:00

December was the third warmest on record and so far this January, we have had double digits on three days of the 5. Yesterday we set an all time record of +12C ( 52F). The upside it was nice to be out even though it was very windy. The downside is instead of about 2 feet of nice fluffy snow, we have hard, can't dent -it -with- a- shovel- ice, everywhere. Don't let the first two photos fool you. It is ice out there. I had to sand the driveway to get up to the house. The plowed walking paths are treacherous. The horses are walking on tip toe, and horse back riding is out of the question.

Although Boots is an outside dog, now and again he will come in to eat and then crash. He is a dog and not an ostrich, and yes we can see him!

Borderline cute? Or what?

2011....The End

2011-12-31T12:35:00.000-07:00

Happy New Year Everybody!

Training Continues

2011-12-30T19:32:00.002-07:00

With the warm weather of December, and continuing on into January, it is time to start the training of Alpine again. Besides being overweight and herd bound, she was starting to exhibit some disrespectful attitude, like turning her butt towards me. Unfortunately, in one way, the warm weather has meant that the roads etc are too icy for riding. However, on the other hand, the problems need to be addressed on the ground first, before getting into the saddle. I am getting old enough to not enjoy the healing process very much anymore. Now, that is an old thought, and I should not be having those!

So, it started yesterday. Brush her down and turn her loose in the paddock, followed by 20 minutes of moving her around with a swinging rope and no lunge line. After the 20 minutes, her ears were on me, she stopped and started chewing, IE. thinking. I turned my back and waited and she hooked up to me and put her head on my shoulder. She then followed me to the gate where I hooked her up to the lead line and took her for a half mile walk. She was as good as gold with no attempt to go back to her herd.

Today, I figured on doing the same thing to Biz, who also had the above symptoms. Instead, Alpine came up to me and nuzzled the halter. So off we went. I brushed her, moved her around the paddock until she hooked up, then we went for a one mile walk, both of us. Again, she was extremely well behaved. She didn't spook when 4 of the neighbours horses came running up to the fence, nor did she spook (other than laugh) when I slipped on the ice and went down.

A real bonus occurred when two kids came up on two VERY loud snow machines, you know, the kind with a large engine, but very small muffler. I am giving them the benefit of the doubt by suggesting that there may be a muffler involved somewhere. She didn't like it at all, went to high alert (Defcon3), but did not try to run. The kids were good, they slowed down and went by real slow before hitting the throttle again.

Tomorrow, I may throw a saddle on her in the upper field where there is some snow and good traction.

I will also find out who is hurting the most, me or her. This is the part that I like, training or retaining a horse. Maybe I should look for a young filly in the spring. Nope, bad thought as Elaine said "No more animals". I guess that I should work with what I've got and be thankful for the blessings that the Lord has given us!

All is Calm

2011-12-26T15:57:00.000-07:00

After the hectic pace of Christmas, it is good to revert to a peaceful state once again.

I hope everybody had a great Christmas.

Getting Better from Now On

2011-12-21T13:58:00.000-07:00

December 21, High Noon in the old corral!

The sun in these parts doesn't get any higher in the sky than this. It seems that we are almost in perpetual twilight or darkness.

The brief 8 hours of so called daylight is way too short! However, thankfully, each day will now be minutes longer. I can hardly wait for the sun to be behind me again (from this viewpoint).

Happy first day of winter everybody!

Boots

2011-12-15T15:15:00.000-07:00

This is how he got his name! A favourite sleeping spot as a pup.

At 8 weeks old he was awfully cute

He filled out to look like a typical Border Collie, intent, alert and hard working.

His first love is trying to herd horses. Horses don't herd well and I have seen him get kicked 38 times ( and counting). The results are, cut ribs, cut face, broken off tooth and a dog that is stone deaf.

Somehow, he maintains his ability to look cute!

An outdoor dog at heart, he refuses to come into the house, except for a small nap now and again when it's really cold outside.

That's our Boots!

I Like It!

2011-12-14T17:11:00.000-07:00

Somewhere, from Somebody, I picked this up!

ANot-so-humble Valedictorian Speech

As the school year draws to aclose, high school valedictorians are giving their inspirational speeches atgraduation ceremonies across the country. But beneath their generous words ofhumility, I can’t help wondering if there lurks the desire to give a less thanmodest speech .......
Ladies and Gentlemen, PrincipalPayne, Teachers, Parents, My Fellow Students and their Parole Officers:

The school year has nowconcluded. To all my classmates who entered 12th grade (again) this year, youhave certainly left a lasting impression on your teachers. I, on the otherhand, have excelled in all academic areas.

Throughout the year, while mostof you were vanquishing imaginary foes on your computer screens, I devoted mydays to study and it has paid off. Soon, I will commence my Ph.D. at a top IvyLeague college; you, however, are destined to become proficient at asking thequestion: "Paper or plastic, Ma’am?"

Let’s begin with the footballjocks. While you were on the field practicing for a life-time of head andspinal injuries, I started a Day Trading Club in the computer center and mademy first million before your coach could scream "torn rotator cuff."And while the rest of you were either cheerleading or boozing at post-game celebrations,I was dazzling the national Mathematics Association by quietly solving thesquare root of negative one.

Speaking of math, many of youemailed me throughout the year for help; but despite my best efforts, I soonrealized the futility. I mean, how can you help people who fail to comprehendthat integration has nothing to do with race relations; that the unitconversion of feet into centipedes is impossible; or that pumpkin pie has norelevance in geometry?

Another highlight for me wasEconomics Class, where I received the school’s competitive and highly covetedMadoff Prize for the assigned essay, "A History of Pyramid Schemes."Many of you who also entered a paper were jealous of my success, but wereclearly foolish to follow my advice and focus your discussion on Egyptology. Inall honesty, I believe most of you failed to grasp any of the fundamentalcourse concepts, and wasted far too much time swapping baseball hats after thatclass on Cap-and-Trade principles.

Since my talents also extended tothe Arts, I feel obliged to mention that the music director was especiallyimpressed when I suggested introducing the concert harp to the school band. Ishould like to acknowledge little Abby Smith who marched with her harp as weplayed Wagner’s complete Ring Cycle during the 14-hour extended half-time atthe homecoming game. Although the hernia and collapsed lung were regrettable, Iunderstand she finishes physical therapy soon and is looking forward tocompleting 12th grade next year.

As for our other teachers, theyhave learned much from me, as well. Mr. Epstein-Barr, the soccer coach andphysics teacher, now has a better understanding of quantum mechanics and nolonger uses terms such as Schrödinger’s Ketchup, Einstein’s theory ofevolution, walking the Planck Constant, or the Big Bangs Theory ofhairdressing.

I also recall the brief battle ofwits I had with our philosophy teacher during the first day of class, aftertelling him how I named our Jack Russell terrier, Bertrand, when I was just 5years old. Unimpressed, he informed me "you are arrogant and anobody," to which I promptly retorted: "Nobody is perfect; therefore,I am perfect." Disappearing in a puff of logic, he immediately retired andnow hangs around toy stores assuring kids that Plato is not modeling clay. Iwas happy to lead the class for the remainder of the semester.

Finally, let me say that, asidefrom knowing all of you, my main disappointment this year was failing to becomeclass president. At first, this stunned me, because I had pledged an excitingvisit to the New York Stock Exchange for our senior trip, rather than thattedious Caribbean cruise the rest of you eventually took.

However, I was not surprised thatHarry Thistlewaite was elected instead. After all, he did make promises thatwere impossible to keep, distorted the truth, and fabricated a collection offallacious stories about his abilities and competence. Along these lines, Iexpect he will excel should he attempt to break into state politics.

Thank you, and don’t keep in touch.

Nick Thomas is a freelancewriter. He has written features for the Washington Post, Los Angeles Times,Chicago Tribune, Boston Globe, San Francisco Chronicle, and the ChristianScience Monitor. He can be reached at www.along-these-lines.com

From My Very Old files

2011-12-13T15:03:00.000-07:00

'Nuff said!

Winter Hit!

2011-12-12T16:36:00.001-07:00

This is what we woke up to today! No, it's not snow , but a very heavy frost. The temperature went from -5C (+22F) in the daytime to -23C (-5F) overnight, knocking all the moisture out of the air. It was very pretty and lasted most of the day.

The picture of this poplar tree shows the hoar frost. When the sun finally came out and loosened it, it was like a mini snow fall under the trees. The downside of the beauty was, it made me 10 minutes late for the Old Boys Coffee Club at Timmies. It's tough stuff to scrape off the windshield.

I took advantage of the cold to light up pile number 12 for the year. There is more than one way to stay warm!

Of Course I'm on Duty!

2011-12-09T14:12:00.000-07:00

I'm watching the horses! That's my job

Honest, I am watching the horses! I would never sleep on the job!

What on Earth are We Doing?

2011-12-08T07:59:00.000-07:00

Now, this may rankle a few folks, but I don't intend to apologize.

Since October I have been listening to adds on the radio, on TV and on billboards to buy this, that and the other thing for Christmas. All are glittery, expensive and "must haves" if you are considered to be "in". I don't have a problem with people giving and getting gifts, however, there is a limit on how "in" I need to be.

What does irk me though is the constant reference to Santa Clause. We have made him an icon. Sure he was a great man back in Kris Kringle days, but now we appear to be worshiping him. This started to bother me a couple of years ago when we attended a Public School's version of a Christmas pageant. The only thing Christmas- y about it was the banner over the stage that said "Merry Christmas". There was no mention of Jesus, no mention of the true Christmas story and no appropriate music.

For the next 3 weeks we get to look at all the cute TV shows such as Elf, Rudolph etc. that are put on in the guise of Christmas entertainment. They have nothing to do with the Lord's coming!

It appears to me now, that unless we as parents, grandparents, etc take the time to tell of the miraculous birth of Jesus Christ, the wise men and all the way up to the Apostles, this generation is going to believe that Santa Clause is God, at least for several months a year.

Now this is getting into dangerous territory as God does not like the worship of idols, and has in history decimated cities and nations for this practice, and has issued strong warnings in His Holy Word about worshiping false gods.

Having said this, we are planning on a simple gift to each other, attending a Christmas Eve service at our local church, and celebrating His birth on Christmas Day.

Hopefully, I do not come across as a Grinch, but only as a guy that has had enough of the shameless commercialism of a Christian holiday. I will likely have a similar rant when it becomes time to "worship" the Easter Bunny.

Wordless Wednesday

2011-12-07T08:48:00.000-07:00

More Things I've Learned

2011-12-05T17:02:00.000-07:00

Let me start 'way back about 55 years ago. back then I was an avid down hill skier, recreational only.Part of living in a small town was the ability to work (for free) in the off season clearing new ski runs on the hill. I learned from the old pros that if you piled brush , tree limbs in a tepee shape, the fire would burn in and up, and all the fuel would fall in to the center, and be consumed. The fire burned hot and clean and the only thing to do afterwards was to kick in a few ends and the clean up was done.

2:00 pm Burning in

Fast forward to today, and the skills learned back then, are put to good usage on the acreage when clearing more pasture. If I had a message for the young people today, it would be "Get involved. You never know when the skills learned will be used in the future, and the learning is free."

2:15 pm

4:00 pm

3:00 pm

My Dad way back said that if you needed a job done and didn't have the tools or know how, go to the library, read or buy a book and buy the tool. You will have the knowledge and resource forever.

I took advantage of the Experimental Aircraft Association resources to learn how to oxy-acetylene weld to aircraft standards. I passed all the tests and I tested a lot as it was going to be my butt hanging out 1 to 12000 feet above sea level. The transition to stick welding was easy after that.

About 7 years ago, this guy got into horses. Horses are expensive to maintain by the way. The farrier bills were running about $130 every 6 weeks. I watched the farriers a fair bit and said " This is not rocket science, I can do that." Now how to do it right was another matter. I lucked into an on-line course for about $65.00 and have been doing my own and a few other horses when people could not get a farrier. By reading the references, I found out how to cure a horse of kicking, and how to safely handle a difficult horse. As a bonus I was able to solve a spit hoof issue that 5 other farriers could not do. The horse is now split- hoof free for 5 years. More info at http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=5420428411794914404&postID=7173096389353942415

With the hard times on us, I don't see why more people don't get involved . The $65 has saved me about $6700.00 in farrier fees, and counting! The instructor was Angie Senter through Universal Class Inc. No, I don't get any royalties or benefits due to this plug.

The overall goal of this class Horseshoeing 101 is to produce competent and confident farriers that can create functional and healthy hooves. This will be accomplished by: An in depth study of anatomy, A working knowledge of tools, equipment, and shoes, Understanding the reasons and history of trimming and shoeing, Learning how to create a balanced hoof through trimming, Learning how to correctly shoe a healthy hoof, Understanding the methods of corrective shoeing for structural abnormalities, Evaluating a horse for structural abnormalities, Assessing and treating almost a dozen hoof diseases and ailments, Learn how to own and operate your own business and Expanding vocabulary of horse terminology.

This course involves an in depth look at equine hoof anatomy. In order to fully understand the material the student must have a high school reading and writing level. This course is supplemented with internet based graphics so a high speed internet connection with a quality graphics card would be beneficial. The physical use of a horse is not a requirement.

Instructor Angie Senter teaches several courses on aspects of horse care for UniversalClass. She owns and operates Senter's Quarter Horses - 21 acres of Palouse ranch land. Her business includes a boarding facility, training and lessons arena, breeding services, massage and farrier services as well as trick horse performances and training.

I guess the point that I am trying to make, is that learning is easy, and cheap especially with the Internet. The other message is " Get rid of the Gameboys, ipods , and other electronic gadgets and start developing the life skills that may be required in your future. Who knows where this Recession/ Depression/ Economic meltdown may go?

The Real Reason for the Getaway 3 of 3

2011-11-30T17:09:00.000-07:00

The last two posts of Elk and Sheep were the bonus part of the trip. The real reason was to enjoy my oldest son and family for the brief time that they were back in Canada.

There are many reasons for the trip, the first is the chance to get a family portrait in the "wilds" of the Shuswap.

The second is to get more photos of the family. It may be a while before we get the chance again as they head back to the States on Tuesday.

It is a great chance to see kids playing in the snow.

It is a great spot to see fabulous scenery and watch the grand kids sliding.

It is also a chance to celebrate an early Christmas with them and to continue the tradition of bringing home the tree.

It is an opportunity to see more scenery.

How's this for cute!

Family: What Christmas is all about, and celebrating God's gifts to us!

Elk, Getaway,Part Two of Three

2011-11-28T13:41:00.000-07:00

I took the opportunity to take a few Elk pictures on the trip. We have a few in the area around the Acreage, but they are very elusive, so any opportunity to get some good photos should be grabbed. About 2 months ago, these bulls would be scrapping with each other. Now they are getting along really well.

When it is sunny, and warm, they seem to be pretty laid back.

No trophies in the lot, but some nice bulls. The full curl ram http://wildwestfarm.blogspot.com/2011/11/it-was-time-for-getaway.html was a ram that would be very high in demand, and worth a lot of money!

The cow elk was very laid back and content just to watch the bulls approaching.

It was time for a Getaway!

2011-11-25T16:15:00.001-07:00

Big Horn Sheep

Elaine and I decided that I should head over to the North Shore of Shuswap Lake in British Columbia to visit my son while he was back in country. This was a distance of 1500 km (937 miles) round trip. I was not that keen on driving the Rocky Mountains this late in the year, but the trip turned out pretty good. There was some misery on B.C 5, but manageable. I managed to do some stalking on the way back and came up with some good sheep and Elk pictures, and a few of some moose. Consider this installment one of about 3 to come. It was funny that for the last eight years I have been content to stick around the acreage and enjoy the critters, but this trip proved very enjoyable. The full curl sheep looks a lot better in the wild than on a wall!

Winter, Blecht!!

2011-11-17T13:34:00.001-07:00

This is what we woke up to this morning! What doesn't show is the howling wind and blowing snow.

The view from the window made me want to head back to bed, but alas, there was a work party at the Men's shelter so I had to go out. 10 to 20 cm of snow forecast!

Bring on spring!

Sequel to "Primitive Times" Post

2011-11-16T16:42:00.001-07:00

I am remiss in not telling the rest of the story, so to speak.
The pump specialist showed up as promised, and basically said "I don't think it's the pump, or power line, let's try something". Of course, at this point, Elaine and I were both saying "Let's get this fixed. Our time without water is long enough enough"

The service tech went over to the truck and came back with a controller panel for the system, plugged it in, turned on the power, and low and behold we heard the really great sound of running water!

The total cost was $120 for the controller and $400 for the call out from Edmonton (2 hours away). This guy was fantastic, helpful and knowledgeable. It puts faith back into the field!

He also recommended changing out the pump in the near future, as 14 years is a long time in our hard water service.

Some good news, and some bad! Right now we are thankful for the fix and will look at the pump change-out in 2012.

Go to the link below to see the cause of the frustration.

http://wildwestfarm.blogspot.com/2011/02/primitive-times.html

I hate to post without a picture, so here it is. Brooklyn is about to get moved off by Alpine, as nobody (except me) gets that close to her pile!

Pyromania!

2011-11-14T12:04:00.000-07:00

Or, one down and seven to go! The light snow made it OK to light this one off. The rain and snow made it a little difficult to light, but once going, it went good!

Not too hot yet, Elaine, Mike and Brooklyn were still about 20 feet from the blaze.

At this point, Brooklynn bailed and every body moved back.

And even further back! This was a big pile, but not the biggest. More to come.

Smores, anybody?

Black on White

2011-11-12T15:41:00.024-07:00

November 12 was the first day that we awakened to a full covering of snow! The contrast between the hairy horses and the snow was rather startling. Fortunately they have all got their winter coats.

Even the protective wire on the trees was covered.

The landscape has really changed from the posts of a few days ago.

Happy winter everybody!

Nostalgic Thursday

2011-11-10T13:54:00.000-07:00

When growing up, I had the opportunity to do a fair bit of flying. This is a shot taken in 1963 at a fly in camp about 70 air miles north of Kenora. When the plane came in, everybody turned out to unload food, gas, guests and everything that a fishing camp in an isolated area required. Even the jeep on the dock was cut in pieces and flown in.

The aircraft is a Noordyn Norseman, an ex military craft built in the 1930's. In 1963 it was already old, but reliable. It had a big round Pratt and Whitney 450 horse power radial engine. It was loud, and hence the aircraft nickname of Thunder Chicken. There are still a few flying, and I believe that Red Lake Ontario still has an annual fly in honoring the plane. Other notable aircraft were common at the dock, the de Havilland Beaver, Otter (or Stone Boat), Twin Otter, Champion, Cessna 180, 182, 172, and even a Canso ( or PBY Flying Boat)

Life was very different in 1963. Words that come to mind are, restful, peaceful, easy-going.

Life revolved around the dock, eating, fishing and relaxing.

I didn't guide at this camp, but went fishing with a good friend, and hunted deer and moose in the fall.

The camp handled about 120 guests at a time and had a support staff of around 30.

A big single cylinder diesel generator was brought in via ice road. It powered a town of around 5000 people in one of the northern states prior to going north. The flywheel weighted about 3 tons if I remember correctly.

Wow, it's been a week!

2011-11-08T15:49:00.000-07:00

It has been quiet at the Men's Shelter due to the scheduling of trades people. I took the opportunity to expand the lower pasture some more. We are in a record situation so I thought I would take advantage of it. This is the latest EVER that we have not had snow on the ground! The last record was Nov. 6, 1933. We are past the sixth and no snow is forecast until the 11th .

I have spent a pile of time cutting and stacking the blocks for firewood. So far, 4 half ton loads have gone and there is lots left. Anybody wanting free firewood, where is, as is, give me a call.

All this field was heavily treed and full of brush and dead falls 3 years ago. It's amazing what you can do, one tree at a time. Maybe I should re-name the Acreage and call it "The Gobi Desert of the North". Way up on the horizon, you can see Tucker still trying to figure if there is anything edible down here.

There are going to be 8 good bonfires once the snow does come!

Newest Acquisitions to the Acreage

2011-10-29T15:29:00.000-06:00

This is what I like about living on an Acreage. You never know what the morning brings. I went out on the deck with my grand daughter and found these three about 100 yards from the house. The cow moose was looking very good and so were her twin calves of this year.

The calves sure grew quickly. Normally we don't see them up this way until January. For some reason they were early this year. Boots and Brooklyn both ignored them.

The two calves were bedded down in this hollow when I first saw them. I don't know where the cow was, but I suspect that she was still laying down.

Moose are rather neat things to have around, but not if you are a horse. All three horses were on high alert, prancing and blowing their displeasure.

All in all, though, not a bad way to start out the day!

I apologize for the slightly out of focus pictures, but at first light, the only steady rest was the top of a fence post. They turned out not too bad for 1/8 of a second shutter speed.

The Cackling of Geese...Why They do It

2011-10-27T15:01:00.000-06:00

It’s a sure sign that winter is approaching. The flocks ofgeese are becoming less and less, meaning that the majority have left Dodge for the warmer south.

The classic “V” formation is a wonderful sight and anaerodynamic marvel

As normal though, the Ganders are in the lead setting thepace and doing most of the hard work. Not to be outdone, the hens are in theback cackling up a storm.

“George, you’re off course”

“George, speed up, all the good condos will be taken at thispace”

“George, lets go down in that field. Junior needs to gopotty”

“George, why have you got ear muffs on?”

“George.....”

Quiet Monday!

2011-10-24T15:41:00.000-06:00

We know winter is close when the Monk's Hood starts flowering. Although pretty to look at, we have been told that all parts are deadly poison. We have 5 plants on the north side and they are very hardy. All 5 have survived several night in the -5C range. I guess the season/ location is not good because in 8 years they have never set seed. Maybe that's a good thing!

Men's Shelter IV, A Good Day's Work

2011-10-21T19:09:00.003-06:00

The work day started at 9:00 am and ended at 5:00. By 1:30, all the roof trusses and gable end were in place. Our picker truck operator was first class and had the touch! The 60 foot span trusses went in slick as a whistle.

This is the first truss going into place.

I have to digress a bit here and relate an event that happened the other day. The contractor had a newbie from Grade 12, getting some work experience. Anyway, the two apprentices sent him into the construction trailer for a couple of sky hooks. This is sort of a right of passage, newbies picking on other newbies. Anyway, after a half hour in a very small trailer, he reported that he could not find any sky hooks. The laughter then started.

The gable wall was set into position and the remaining trusses installed.

The last couple of trusses will be tied in after the fire wall is gyp-rocked and moved out to give the necessary 1 inch air gap. Part of the roof was sheathed and another work party is scheduled for 10:00 am Saturday.

Men's Shelter III

2011-10-19T17:28:00.000-06:00

I should of taken this first picture earlier, however, I seem to have left the camera in the truck while working.

The infamous firewall is up, and the second half glued to a sort of free standing wall of drywall. Once the glue is dry, the wall will be separated to give 1 inch of air space. Without the complexity of the firewall, the building would likely be up and ready for inside finishing. I won't go there as I only allow myself one rant per month!

Today, we basically finished the front wall (all 60 feet) and it should be lifted into place tomorrow along with the roof trusses. I plan on taking a day off to play catch up on the acreage. The contractor crew and picker operator can do the heavy lifting part.

Men's Shelter II

2011-10-17T17:00:00.001-06:00

It's coming along. This is 1/2 of the fire wall between the shelter and the church ready for insulation and dry walling.

Here is the first half of the fire wall almost completed. It needs 2 layers of 5/8 inch drywall per side. 12 foot panels are real heavy.

Hopefully the second wall of the fire wall will go up at 9 am tomorrow. It gets dropped down 4 feet into the crawl space, then glued to the layer of dry wall then moved out to give 1 inch of air space between the walls. The contractor figures on 15 people to lift and slide into position. The design is such that it will give a 2 hour fire protection. Hopefully, that will never be used! Ideally (in my opinion) it would be paneled on the ground and then lifted, but the 60 foot span is too flimsy to allow that to happen. Who am I to argue with the experts. In the mean time, at 09:00 early, we will do it the hard way.

Sushi

2011-10-16T20:23:00.000-06:00

What else do you call a koi that is rapidly outgrowing his 35 gallon tank?

We've had him/her for about 3 years ever since he was a fingerling. Other than the dogs and the horses, the fish are the only ones with names. Currently he is about a foot long. I guess one of these days I'll have to take a trip back to the pet store and see if I can barter for a replacement. Anybody got any other suggestions? I hate the thought of him living up to his name.

Besides, the rule still holds that you should never name anything that you could eat. 8-}

It Feels Like Snow!

2011-10-14T18:02:00.000-06:00

Hopefully, it is far, far away! However, the SandHill Cranes, Snow Geese and Canada geese are all heading south. They are up at5000 feet and going fast. Usually they are ahead of the professionalweather forecasters.

The leaves are pretty much gone, and what are left aredrying on the trees. This morning I dug out my winter toquebefore heading out to work some more on the land clearing. The wind wasbitterly cold and it felt like it was going to rain, or snow.

If you look closely at the above, you can see Biz standingon the hill trying to see if there was any grass yet. She and Alpine arebanished to the field farthest from the main road, because they both looksimilar to a moose when walking through the bush.

Brooklyn is quite inquisitive and follows me fromspot to spot. She doesn't seem to miss the chickens, nor does Boots. The lastof our chickens are now gone, so it will be back to purchasing store boughteggs over the winter. We will have to think on whether we want layers nextspring along with the meat birds and turkeys. It was a tough,but necessary decision to put down the layers, but the energy cost this wintermade keeping them for eggs a serious money losing proposition.

Tomorrow, I start cleaning out the turkey house and chickencoop. I can use the space to store all the paraphernalia thatgoes along with keeping foul. I timed the food almost perfectly and only haveabout 2 scoops left. The oyster shell is also pretty muchempty.

My Rant of the Month!

2011-10-05T17:26:00.001-06:00

For a while now, our electrical supplier has been announcing that our power rates are going to go up. What you say? 1 or 2 %..... No, 50% ! This is on top of the 20% already increased over the last year.

This was kind of expected when our Conservative government privatized the power industry. They said that no this would never happen.

Now is this greed at its worst in the power companies?

They had a spokesperson on TV the other night that could not answer the question as to why it was going up. He said that it might be because of increased population, or maybe increased industrial demand or several other issues that I was too much in shock to remember. As far as I can tell the Alberta population has not increased by 70%, industry has not grown by that much, nor have the sum totals of all the lame possibilities that he suggested. Personally, I would have fired the guy!

The issue that he did not mention was the possibility that the user population is paying for a proposed power line expansion.

What does this mean to this retired acreage owner?
First of all, the chickens have to go as we cannot afford to over winter them.
Second, the cost of produce is going to go up again. Have you priced a roast of beef, or a chicken in Alberta lately?
Third, this will definitely cause industry that is thinking of moving here to go elsewhere.
Fourth, it will accelerate inflation
Fifth, it is NOT the thing to do when we are on the verge of recession/depression.

Hint: When any government starts talking privatization, be prepared to come out swinging!

What about you? are you satisfied with $12+ per gigajoule? Or in other words (English) prepared to take a 70% hike in your electricity cost? $12 is now, $18 is coming.

I would be interested in hearing your comments, as I am going to be writing the various levels of government this week and our new Premier Elect.

Extended Pasture Completed!

2011-10-04T17:05:00.000-06:00

The last bit of the new horse area has now been cleared, and harrowed and leveled, all ready for spring seeding. I still have one large stump to remove (ughh). The long pole was used to lift the quad when I high pointed it on a stump. Love those long levers! It looks level, but there is quite a grade and a few valleys that don't show up in the photos very well.

#1 burn pile is ready to go! It also is in a 6 foot ravine.

This is some of the wood that I snaked out with the quad and trailer. If we had room, I would be tempted to put in a wood burning fireplace. That is a BAD thought. My longer term memory is still reminding me just how much work that is. In the meantime, free fire wood, where is, as is.

Burn pile #2 is also in a gully. Hopefully, it will dry enough to light off this winter. I need about 6 inches of snow on the ground before any burning is done. That is my personal limit as far as fire spreading goes.

Unfortunately, there are still lots of stumps to cut off and/or dig out. The key thing is to get the sharp points off before the horses get in there. One more day should completely finish the project! I guess the next step is to put the lawn mower away, bring out the snow blower and prepare for winter.

Our Town's Men's Shelter

2011-09-29T19:17:00.000-06:00

The work progresses pretty well. We had a lot of hold ups over the last three years, but things are now happening! The side of the church lost it's 150 year old spruce tree because of the trenching required for the new sewer attachment. We have been working to get the landscaping back to acceptable levels. Various companies donated the wood chips for mulch around the bushes and the top soil next to the pathway. As a lawn cutter I was happy to see a very low maintenance result.

Unfortunately, the grass will not get to grow this year. However, with a fall seeding it should have a good start in the spring.

The footings are in and the crew is busy installing the floor joists. The crawlspace is 4 feet deep and will handle the heating ducts and electrical.

It was some fun stripping the siding and insulation of the building! It involved working off a ladder up to 18 feet high with many trips up and down the ladder. The Styrofoam insulation was salvaged and used to insulate the crawl space. Our hope is to get the walls up and the roof on before the snow flies. It is a tight schedule.

A lot of people ask why the need for a men's shelter in Whitecourt and in Alberta. We accommodated 3 people per night at a local hotel for the last few winters. A lot of them were down on their luck or in transition and living out of their cars. It is hoped that with this project we can transition people that are not only down and out locally, but also from places like the Hope Mission, and Teen Challenge in Edmonton.

The unit will have rooms for five people, a kitchen and common area. The shelter is called Lorne's Blanket. Lorne was the son of a lady who attends our church and who died of exposure in the 30- 40 below zero temperatures that we experience. Hopefully we can aid in avoiding more situations like that.

It keeps a few of us busy and out of trouble.

Anybody Like a Challenge?

2011-09-26T19:05:00.000-06:00

This clump of trees has to come down, particularly the ones behind the shed. The big ones are starting to rot up top. The challenge is to miss the chicken run, miss the septic field ( it is only inches below the surface), miss the shed and house.

Here is another view looking along the fall line.

These two big ones need to fall between the shed and the chicken run. Did I mention that they have a slight lean the wrong way? Anybody have 30+ small hard hats for the chickens?

The other object is to miss these gals.

On a lighter note, the bull work clearing out this area is complete! If the temperature rises 5C unexpectedly in Woodlands County this winter, it will be due to the 4 big piles being lit off.

Wish me luck!

Anyone for a Hot Tub?

2011-09-25T20:54:00.000-06:00

Fall is definitely starting to show it's colours. We don't get the bright reds of the maples, but rather lots and lots of yellows.

The turkeys are getting big!

The turkey hot tub is fired up and will be running this week in order to get the turks into Club Freezer. The bottom part of the 45 gallon drum is just large enough to get one in. So far, the toms have been averaging 26 pounds dressed.

Only seven more to go!

Is the sky falling?

2011-09-22T19:34:00.001-06:00

With all the hype going on about the space junk ( very expensive 30+ years ago), are you ready for the chicken little scenario? The odds are something like one in a trillion of me (or you) being hit as an individual, but one in 3200 of somebody being hit. Quite a discrepancy!

I guess the old saying and song "What goes up, must come down" rings true. The area is all the way from Texas to Edmonton and from the Pacific to Atlantic, and don't forget about the southern tip of South America. In other words, these rocket scientists don't know squat about where ( or when) it's coming down~!

How would you like to be on the trip to the moon, or Mars with this science at work?

Me, I'm going to wear a hard hat to bed tonight and tomorrow just in case

How about you? Are you prepared to meet your Maker?

Extending... The Hard Way

2011-09-20T16:03:00.001-06:00

The temperature in the daytime has been too hot for hunting, so the "spare" time has been spent between constructing the Men's Shelter at the church and clearing more land for the horses.( Horses = hay, lots of it)

I planted some Horseman's mix last year, but the area was too shaded. It took, but struggled. The solution? Get out the chain saw and let the sun shine in. The burn pile to the right (above) is actually in a gully about 6 feet deep. It is going to go high and hot! A pyromaniac's dream!

The quad trailer has been getting lots of use.

There is still a lot of clean-up to do, but, hey, us retired folks have lots of time to spare. Right! I could use a work party of say; The Old Geezer, Clint, Gregg, Kim, and Texwisgirl, and a few others.

Lots of firewood to haul out and stack. This year I said to myself "Those that want free firewood, come get it, free, where is, as is" However, I seem to be hauling it out again. Oh well, it keeps me out of trouble! And sore!

What say? Any volunteers for a serious work party? There are still two acres to go.

Bits and Pieces

2011-09-13T19:48:00.000-06:00

This is what happens when you are a three year old visiting the Acreage. You build a nest in the middle of the floor and crash for three hours.

On the way home today, I spotted the deer that has been at our salt lick all summer. This time she is in the second cut of alfalfa, enjoying a good snack until I came along

Then there are her twins from this year, minus their spots. I could not get all three in the frame at one time.

Turning into the driveway I surprised a roughed grouse and her family of 7 chicks. The young ones are fast and disappeared into the brush before I could get a shot.

The chickens are starting to lay again. This shows a "normal" egg beside a not so normal egg and a penny for size comparison. I guess you can't fault a hen for trying! This has to be the smallest egg in three years!

The days are getting busy with the Men's Shelter being started (finally, after three years). The footings are poured.; the gravel spread; and the pony walls scheduled to be poured tomorrow. Being retired, so to speak, I get to volunteer labour against the construction grant. It keeps me busy and tired. Hopefully, I will get some pictures for the next blog.

Obsolete and Not Aware?

2011-09-06T17:01:00.001-06:00

The other day I had to go and pay a speeding ticket ( The first one since 1972). It turns out that the court house was closed, motor vehicle registration wanted $10 to process it and asked "why not mail it?" What a novel idea! Down to the post office I went and paid my 65? cents and the job was done. Now the other options were to use Paypal or Visa online. While standing in line I kind of asked myself "Why am I mailing this?" The other options were free. This caused further thoughts such as " In hard times, why does the P.O. still exist?" And , "If it were to disappear tomorrow, would I miss it?" The Government is always looking for ways to cut costs. Is this not a candidate? Our mail is mostly flyers and bills (which are paid automatically, so would we miss it? Not sure!

How about you? Is the post Office a near-extinct function?

It's Too Early!

2011-09-02T16:30:00.000-06:00

September 1, we had our first frost! The temperature dropped to -2C (28F). Fortunately, we have a good weather channel and they gave us warning. I was able to pick the apples, get 2 gallons of peas in and put frost blankets on the main garden. We didn't lose anything and the remaining peas are OK.

ITS TOO EARLY! I AM NOT READY!

The leaves are starting to fall.

I got the area behind the flower bed cleared out. The trees behind will likely go for firewood and that area will become pasture.

The turkeys are almost ready to be "Done". Brooklynn will miss her buddies. She is about 95 pounds to give you some idea of the turkey size. Tomorrow, one will go on the scale.

I got my truck back after 3 weeks. It hasn't run this good for several years! Now if I can get another 200 K on this engine, Life will be good on the acreage!

It looks like we will be feeding hay pretty soon. The horses are talking to me in the morning, and are starting to clean up the weeds. Alpine , is definitely not a happy camper!

Wordless Wednesday

2011-08-31T15:24:00.002-06:00

A Busy Week or Two!

2011-08-29T21:10:00.000-06:00

I haven't been blogging as much as I would have liked due to the fall work load.

The best part is we managed to get 312 bales of hay in the shelter and under a tarp before the rain hits (tomorrow). This should be enough to feed 3 horses from now until mid June when we can get them back out to pasture. I hope! Hay aint cheap anymore, although we got a good deal. The turkeys are getting close to sauna time. We don't want anymore 35 pounders!

The quad is now ready for snow, with a working blade for the drive way.

The raspberries are in the freezer, all 7 gallons of them, although I did make a bunch of jam. We ran out of freezer space.

The peas are doing well and we will be putting them down probably this week. The raspberry canes in the background are 6 feet tall and should supply a good crop for next summer.

This part of the garden was a disappointment. Due to the very wet and cold summer, it was basically a failure. The lettuce did well, but that's about it. The potato patch did well, and we are giving away some of the surplus.

Of our 5 apple trees, this was the only one that set fruit.

The apples are slated for apple crumbles!

This is our one and only spaghetti squash. All the rest produced vine, but no fruit. This was the year for the green house! We have had a lot of tomatoes, and peppers, but only because of the greenhouse heat.

Note to self: How do I get the whole garden inside, without breaking the bank?

The surplus raspberries were made into jam ( 6 more jars tonight), plus 3 jars of red currant jelly.

Brooklynn here has almost lost her winter coat. Here it is the end of August and she is still shedding! She is a smart dog. She taught herself to walk along and pick raspberries. Very gentle, lips only! This is her guilty look! " But they are so gooood!"

A Good Friday!

2011-08-26T19:49:00.000-06:00

Total Concentration!
(Or it's tough being a horse today!)

Perils of a Horse

2011-08-20T21:23:00.000-06:00

One of the biggest fears of a horse is that some critter may be lurking in the bushes, waiting to pounce and devour the horse.

Lets have a closer look. Bear, wolf, coyote? Nope, only Boots.

No matter what the hazard, I can swish with the best!

A Not-so-brief History Lesson

2011-08-16T20:00:00.000-06:00

A Good friend sent me this. It says to pass it on, so I am.

Where did Piss Poor come from?
Fascinating History

They used to use urine to tan animal skins, so families
used to all pee in a pot & then once a day it was taken &
Sold to the tannery.......if you had to do this to survive
you were "Piss Poor"

But worse than that were the really poor folk who couldn't
even afford to buy a pot......they "didn't have a pot to
piss in" & were the lowest of the low

The next time you are washing your hands and complain
because the water temperature isn't just how you like it,
think about how things used to be. Here are some facts about
the 1500s:

Most people got married in June because they took their
yearly bath in May, and they still smelled pretty good by
June.. However, since they were starting to smell . ..... ..
Brides carried a bouquet of flowers to hide the body odor.
Hence the custom today of carrying a bouquet when getting Married.

Baths consisted of a big tub filled with hot water. The man
of the house had the privilege of the nice clean water, then
all the other sons and men, then the women and finally the
children. Last of all the babies. By then the water was so
dirty you could actually lose someone in it.. Hence the
saying, "Don ' t throw the baby out with the Bath water!"

Houses had thatched roofs-thick straw-piled high, with no
wood underneath. It was the only place for animals to get
warm, so all the cats and other small animals (mice, bugs)
lived in the roof. When it rained it became slippery and
sometimes the animals would slip and fall off the roof...
Hence the saying "It ' s raining cats and dogs."

There was nothing to stop things from falling into the
house. This posed a real problem in the bedroom where bugs
and other droppings could mess up your nice clean bed. Hence,
a bed with big posts and a sheet hung over the top
afforded some protection. That ' s how canopy beds came into
existence.

The floor was dirt. Only the wealthy had something other
than dirt. Hence the saying, "Dirt poor." The wealthy had
slate floors that would get slippery in the winter when wet,
so they spread thresh (straw) on floor to help keep their
footing. As the winter wore on, they added more thresh until,
when you opened the door, it would all start slipping
outside. A piece of wood was placed in the entrance-way.
Hence: a thresh hold.

(Getting quite an education, aren’t ' t you?)

In those old days, they cooked in the kitchen with a big
kettle that always hung over the fire.. Every day they lit
the fire and added things to the pot. They ate mostly
vegetables and did not get much meat. They would eat the
stew for dinner, leaving leftovers in the pot to get cold
overnight and then start over the next day. Sometimes stew
had food in it that had been there for quite a while. Hence
the rhyme: Peas porridge hot, peas porridge cold, peas
porridge in the pot nine days old. Sometimes they could
obtain pork, which made them feel quite special. When
visitors came over, they would hang up their bacon to show
off. It was a sign of wealth that a man could, "bring home
the bacon." They would cut off a little to share with guests
and would all sit around and chew the fat.

Those with money had plates made of pewter. Food with high
acid content caused some of the lead to leach onto the food,
causing lead poisoning death. This happened most often with
tomatoes, so for the next 400 years or so, tomatoes were
considered poisonous.

Bread was divided according to status. Workers got the burnt
bottom of the loaf, the family got the middle, and guests
got the top, or the upper crust.

Lead cups were used to drink ale or whisky. The combination
would Sometimes knock the imbibers out for a couple of days.
Someone walking along the road would take them for dead and
prepare them for burial. They were laid out on the kitchen
table for a couple of days and the family would gather
around and eat and drink and wait and see if they would wake
up. Hence the custom of holding a wake.

England is old and small and the local folks started running
out of places to bury people. So they would dig up coffins
and would take the bones to a bone-house, and reuse the
grave. When reopening these coffins, 1 out of 25 coffins
were found to have scratch marks on the inside and they
realized they had been burying people alive... So they would
tie a string on the wrist of the corpse, lead it through the
coffin and up through the ground and tie it to a bell.
Someone would have to sit out in the graveyard all night
(the graveyard shift.) to listen for the bell; thus, someone
could be saved by the bell or was considered a dead ringer.

And that's the truth....Now, whoever said History was boring!!!

So...get out there and educate someone! ~~~ Share these
facts with a friend.

Weird

eh?

August is half Over

2011-08-15T14:20:00.001-06:00

Alpine is looking pretty shiny. I got 2 hours trail riding on her this weekend. She is still a little frisky, but settles down after one or two one-rein stops.

The three lawnmowers finished up trimming the driveway on Sunday. The grass was pretty long and I am surprised (pleasantly) that it took a week to get the job done.

With my youngest son and oldest grand daughter off to Uganda, we get Mad Max to help entertain Brooklynn. They get along extremely well, and are very tired at day's end. Mike and Adelle are off with a group of 15 from SOS Ministries on an eighteen day mission trip. We heard that they arrived in Entebe on Sunday with no delays. I imagine they will all be very tired after the trip to London, 8 hour layover and flight to Entebe. It likely will be a life changing event for all of them,

The raspberry crop continues to produce and there are now 7 gallons of berries frozen and bagged in the freezer. Mid August is upon us which means winter is not far away. Blahhh!

The weekend was great and I got 4 hours of riding in, 2 hours on Biz and 2 hours on Alpine. Elaine was down, but not out, with a severe cold or?

It appears that it may be cheaper to change out the motor on my truck than to replace the head. With Mike and Adelle away, I get the use of Mike's truck until the end of the month. Hopefully, I can get mine back on the road by then.

Life is real good on the Acreage!

An Open Letter to Politicians....Response

2011-08-07T14:31:00.000-06:00

Well, I sent my list to all the political parties in Canada (Federal). See link below.
The response was not what I expected. Maybe I'm an idealist, but only ONE party chose to respond, and that was in a very general "will take it under advisement". There was absolutely no response from any of the other parties! I would guess, that none of them could meet the requests for a representative. The election is now history, and so is my optimism.

http://wildwestfarm.blogspot.com/2011/02/open-letter-to-politicians.html

Too Hot, But the Work Goes On.

2011-08-05T19:56:00.002-06:00

It was stinking hot today 25 C (78F) and very high humidity. I got the gallon of raspberries before the temp maxed out, so that was good. I figured I would toss in a picture to make some folks hungry. It looks like a gallon per day for the next 10 days. No, I didn't eat any. They are all in the freezer.

Today was mow the driveway day. To do that i needed to run some fence so the automatic mowers didn't go visiting at the neighbours. They have been known to do that in the past.. Below is the rig on the back of the quad trailer for running the wire. It works extremely well.

I gave strict instructions to the mowers to start at the roadway and work their way down. So much for listening! Tucker is hiding behind a tree in the shade. Alpine is well away from the driveway.

Then there is Biz! She did what she was told and ate near the edge. You know it's hot when Boots is in close and laying in the horse' shade. Brooklynn stayed on the deck, in the shade and was ~~king~~ Queen of her domain.

Yeah, you! I'm watching you! Now get back to work up at the roadside. I mean it!

More Exercise!

2011-08-04T08:50:00.000-06:00

At 07:45 early, I got the call. "Your hay is cut and bailed, and it's going to rain! " The rain forecast was almost a sure thing because we only say 6 rain free days in July. Every body was working so off I went to haul hay.

It was kind of peaceful in the field and you could hear the sweat fall.

BEFORE

Looking east, the sky was very clear

AFTER

When I finished, the western sky did not look so good.

ONE OF 5 LOADS

32 BALES

I just got the last load in the shelter and the thunder rolled in. 150 bales tucked away and 150 more to go. Hopefully, the next lot will be done under better circumstances, and there will be some help available!

I finished at 3 pm and was I stiff and sore! Get an Acreage and some horses and you don't have to go to the gym for exercise.

Life is GOOD on the Acreage!

She's Back!

2011-08-02T07:25:00.000-06:00

She disappeared for a while, but showed up today. Hopefully she will bring her spotted fawn to the salt lick soon. She has obviously given birth in the last week. Her baby won't be too far away. I didn't look for it as it's hard to sneak around with a couple of dogs. She will present the fawn in due course.

I blew it. I figured I would have time to take this and get a shot of her going over the fence. No such luck! She went over pretty fast!

A Great Weekend!

2011-08-01T15:11:00.000-06:00

Elaine has gone to summer camp with the grand kids so I kind of had a honey do list. However, yesterday, I played truant and saddled up Alpine. I figured she needed some miles on her, and I needed a trail ride. So, off we went. The gate was open to our neighbour's half section and the cows (bulls) weren't in there yet. Alpine was a little skittish at first, but settled down into a steady trot. Can that horse trot! Two hours later, she was still trotting on the way home. It was very difficult to get her to walk. She just wanted to trot! I am not sure if that is a trait of the Morgan horse or not. It took a good half hour to catch her rhythm, which appeared to be totally different from the other horses. I was tempted to go to a cantor, but decided as I was alone in the middle of 320 acres populated by deer, moose and whatever, it was probably not a good idea.

I hate to say it, but I think that I am a little out of shape, as my legs did not want to work very well after the two hours.

Boots came along for the ride and man, was his butt dragging by the time we got back! I could tell where he was in the hay field because there was a bow wave spreading out. Brooklynn started out, but disappeared about 20 minutes into the ride. I found her sleeping under the deck looking very comfortable.

Today we have a high wind so it's back to chores. I trimmed some brush ~~growing around~~ hiding the shed, transplanted my slightly root bound mint, weeded a garden and picked a half gallon of our raspberries. It looks like it's going to be a good crop! Last year we put 100 pounds in the freezer and will probably get the same amount this year. Now, all I need is a good recipe for raspberry crisp, or ?

Tomorrow its back to town to water the church plants (Elaine's job, normally) then over to check on the hay cutting/ baling. I am hoping my truck will last long enough to get the hay home. Fortunately, it is only about a 2 mile round trip times ten to get the 300 bales home. It turns out that I not only blew a plug, but lost a valve. The transmission is also starting to slip. I really like the truck, but it is a 2001 and how much money do you feed into it? It's 16 hours labour at $80/hour plus the cost of a used motor. I haven't looked at the transmission cost . It is probably time to cut the cost and look at a good used replacement. Drat!

I hope all you folks in Canada had a really good long weekend, and that you folks in the U.S can get a working compromise regarding debt reduction. We don't need another world recession!

Here are Five Things that I dislike, not in any particular order:

2011-07-30T21:40:00.001-06:00

1. 1. Roll backs

This just says to me “ Look, I am still making loads of money, but I’m trying to make you feel good about the over pricing that I have been charging you”. It’s the same thing with 3 cents a litre off gas prices. I really don’t want to belong to your silly club anyway. Just take the 3 cents off at the pump.

2. 2. TV sequences that are to be continued.

In In most cases they don’t say when they will be continued. Tomorrow? At what time? Next week? Or never?

3. 3. Distracted drivers

I am getting tired of near misses by people talking on cell phones, primping in the mirror or in one case reading a book on the freeway. There is hope for this one as the province is implementing a distracted driving law. I guess there is a sequel to this one because I also dislike over regulation. In this case a hefty ticket may boost the common sense level.

4. 4. People who are consistently late.

Sure, everybody is late now and again for a good reason, but showing up consistently ½ hour late for a meeting, church or whatever, doesn't say to me “ Look how important I am”, but rather “See how disorganised I am”

5. 5. The word “Like”

It seem s that almost every person under 20 (in some cases, 30) has to use this word at the start of every sentence, and several times within the sentence. I almost feel sorry for them when they hit the work force and find out that their potential boss considers them illiterate!

What are some of your peeves? I hate to think that I am all alone out here.

A Downer and a Cure

2011-07-25T20:28:00.001-06:00

My truck went and blew a spark plug (again) and is in the shop waiting for repairs. The plug took out the cap and coil causing the truck to sound like a very old tractor or a threshing machine. The last time this happened, my mechanic was able to heli -coil the head. Hopefully, I will get lucky this time also.

When feeling blue, how can I stay that way when I look at this face?

A trip down memory lane also helps. I can't believe the time has gone by that fast!

Then if I go way back in time to my high school days, I think of the fun I had building this boat in the basement during Christmas vacation. Eight feet long, four feet wide and twelve inches deep. For all you metric types, I'll let you do the math. With a 10 horse power motor and racing prop, it did an honest 32 miles/ hour. I had it all over Lake of The Woods for four seasons. The boat cost about $50.00 to build and was worth every penny. Believe it or not, two people fit cozily inside. When the big waves came along, powering down got the nose to come up, and it was dry in waves up to four feet high.

There! I feel better already!

Scenes Around the Acreage

2011-07-22T15:49:00.000-06:00

The water cannon at work chasing away a neighbour's cat. The motion sensor works well.

Our three horses looking for handouts.

Peony in bloom.

A sleepy Alpine

The chicken sauna all fired up and ready to go. Over the last few days 26 chickens have felt its warmth and are now residing in Hotel Kenmore.

This little guy is a slow learner. I've had to rescue him three times from our pond. Maybe he just likes the attention!

Progress is being Made!

2011-07-18T20:37:00.000-06:00

Alpine Black Magic is progressing well! With a lot of TLC ( and a certain amount of caution), I can now get her to give all four feet without trying to kick me to death. The old rope trick was applied twice, once with the farrier and once when she was being particularly snarly. After that, she got the message and will give the hind feet OK. Due to the really bad weather and treacherous footing in the paddock, I took to riding her on the main ( county) road. This has gone very well. She is naturally inquisitive and getting to be very trusting. Currently I have put on about 5 hours on her.

Someone at one time has spent a lot of time or money on training her. She has a great stop, a great one rein stop and will walk on command and trot on command. She backs up the best of all our horses.

What she does not like is a tight rein. A loose rein and a slight wiggle of a finger is all it takes for a turn. Slight leg pressure tightens the turn . Neck reining is foreign to her at this time. What I need to do is find my old riding buddy and see if she has dressage training. That aspect is foreign to me, and i don't want to mess her up.

I didn't get all the time on her that I wanted, but now that Elaine is back, she can take over.

The thumb is healing well and I am off to see the Doc tomorrow, probably about some physio.

Life is real good on the Acreage!

Is Big Brother watching?

2011-07-15T08:34:00.000-06:00

YOU BETCHA!

This is SCAREY..BUT OH SO GOOD! AMAZING comes to mind..Check this out!

Check this out ...

This is the photo taken by PoMo photographer Ronnie Miranda that appeared in our Tri-City News last Friday (24-June).

When you open this up, check the left hand side where you can upsize the photo, and click on the Yellow print "view with GigaTag".

This is actually scary. You can see - perfectly - the faces of every single individual - and there were thousands!

Privacy?

THERE IS NO PRIVACY..

http://www.gigapixel.com/image/gigapan-canucks-g7.html

This was sent to me by a friend. If you think you can get lost in a crowd, think again!

More Visitors

2011-07-14T12:17:00.000-06:00

The local wildlife is starting to show up several times a day. The word must be getting around that the grass, salt and water are good! Also, the dogs are lazy and unlikely to chase anything except a few Zeds.

ONE

TWO

THREE

GONE!

Hope your day is going well!

Enough Already!

2011-07-11T14:26:00.000-06:00

We are being inundated with rain! The fields are flooded. The fields are running off. The Athabasca river is under a flood warning in Whitecourt. In 10 years I have never seen the river this high! It doesn't affect us because we are about 800 feet above river level, but it gives you an idea just how much water is coming down

My wheelbarrow filled up and overflowed over night. My empty fish pond also filled up.

In June we had 4 rain free days. In July so far, we have been rain free for only 3 days.
Each morning when I get up, I check for webbed fingers and toes! You'd think we lived in B.C.

On the positive side, the hay for the horses is growing like crazy down the hill. How they are going to get in and cut and dry it is unclear. Hopefully, the rest of the month will be drier!

Now, whoever is out there doing the rain dance, please stop immediately, or go to Texas, where they need some help.

Anyone in the area found dancing in a circle will be shot on sight! You have been warned!
No more Mr. Nice Guy!

More of Life on an Acreage

2011-07-08T20:11:00.000-06:00

Our friends showed up with 4 teenage grand children, plus a teenage friend for the annual ride a horse on the acreage day. Busy? Exciting? You betcha! With only 3 horses, they were lined up and waiting for a turn. Each one seemed to prefer a particular horse. Here we have a sort of horse race down the paddock. Who won? I think they all did! I had help hauling the saddles and tack, but I still didn't mention this activity to the Doctor today. Nor did I mention trimming some feet and running the chain saw!

The trip into Edmonton (twice) went well in spite of some torrential down pours. I took Elaine into the airport Thursday night, then went back into the city Friday morning, all in rain and high winds. She is off to Pennsylvania for 10 days.

The trip to University Hospital was productive. The X-Ray showed the bones to be healing well and I get to go without having the bones pinned. Yahooo! I get to wear the splint for another three weeks around the clock, then I can start taking it off in the daytime for another 3 weeks, with no heavy lifting allowed. I figure for doing the heavy work that needs to be done, I can slip it back on while doing it. After 6 weeks, I go back in for another X-ray to see how its progressing.

What I learned from this:

1. When you have a possible dislocation, pull harder to reset it so that if any bones are broken they will realign.
2. Don't try out a strange (new) horse bareback the first time
3. Even when frozen, it hurts to have a thumb reset. (refer to #1)
4. Thumbs are useful for all sorts of things we take for granted every day.
5.People always want to shake your hand when it's in a cast.
6. People look at you funny when you shake hands left handed.
7.If you talk nicely to the Doctor, he will comply with a request that allows you to hold the reins in a cast (splint)
8. It is possible to trim a horse while in a splint (don't tell the Doc about that)
9.It is very difficult to use a steak knife left handed!
10. I don't bounce as well as I used to!

A Bit of This... A Bit of that

2011-07-04T20:21:00.000-06:00

My apologies for the blurry photo. This guy comes in just at last light to have a go at the horse's salt lick.

Our raspberry bushes are starting to fruit out, which also brings out the odd hornet (top right)

This is why I like to visit the greenhouse. There is nothing quite like a fresh tomato right off the vine!

The potato patch is well up already and the rest of the gardens are coming along well. (Weeding by Elaine.) The rhubarb patch is getting a little out of control. ( note to self: make lots of pies and crumbles)

The back flower gardens look a lot better green, than white.

I see you.....two!

Fresh grass, full stomachs and nap time in the shade. Life is good on the Acreage!

Elaine and I have been continuing our training of Alpine Black Magic. I have now got her so that she will allow me to pick all four feet. I don't recommend other people try it yet. Elaine did and got a very large bruise on her leg. My old farrier came up to give me a hand trimming her and she almost caught him, even with my warning him. For safety sake, we used the old rope trick on her and got the job done with no damage to the horse or us. Elaine and I have been riding her in the corral for at least an hour a day and I did venture out on the county road with her. She is a very well behaved horse on the trail.

I figure on about 10 to 12 hours riding time and she will be a very good horse.

I bought one of the bitless bridles, and she loves it! There appears to be no difference in reaction between bit and bitless, and the bitless is far more horse friendly. I figure that one of those likely will settle Tucker down and get her away from the head tossing and chewing. We will see how it goes!

A Week Without......

2011-07-01T20:42:00.001-06:00

Blogging!

I have been a bad blogger! I have been reading lots of blogs, but commenting seldom and posting not.

This is the contraption that they fitted me with. It looks like 4 to 6 weeks will be the time confined with the following caveat: If X-Rays on the 8th show the bones to be misaligned, then they will likely pin the thumb which means another 4 to 6 weeks. Note that the doc met my request and I can still hold the reins.

What I have here is a BIG quarter horse that we boarded two days. He is 16 + Hands high and around 1400 pounds. I got by the first day, but on the second, I just had to try him out. My western saddle ( designed for a quarter horse) just barely went on him. The back cinch was on the first notch. I had to use the show bridle that came with the horse, as mine would not fit.

I only rode him for about 20 minutes. You could just feel the power in those hind quarters! He was very well behaved. I had fun, in spite of an unorthodox grip on the reins.

If I had a horse this size, I would need to invest in a bigger step ladder!

Hummingbird Moth

2011-06-23T20:38:00.000-06:00

This is a moth that can do anything that a hummingbird can do, hence the name. 1/1000 of a second shutter speed just barely stops the wings.

I found him dining on our white lilac bush. He is somewhat like the bumble bee, with a large body and like the bumble bee, should theoretically not be able to fly. Tell that to the moth!

Hemaris

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Hemaris

Hemaris diffinis Lake Junaluska, North Carolina
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta

Hemaris is a Holarctic genus of sphinx moths, consisting of about 17 species living in the Holarctic^[1], four of which fly in North and South America, three fly in Europe.^[2] Their main host plants are herbs and shrubs of the Dipsacaceae (Teasel) and Caprifoliaceae (Honeysuckle) families. Moths in the Hemaris genus are collectively called Clearwing Moths or Hummingbird Moths in the US, and Bee Hawk-Moths inBritain.

Eggs are small, spherical, and pale glossy green in color.

[edit]Form

The larvae are small, cylindrical, and granulose. The granules often have small bristles. While most larvae are green and brown, many color forms exist. All have a distinctive pale dorso-lateral longitudinal stripe from head to horn.

Pupae are enclosed in a loosely spun cocoon, and are glossy in most species. There is a prominent tubercle, or hook, alongside each eye. The cremaster is large, and flattened.

The imagos, or adults, are small, diurnal moths that resemble bumblebees in shape. They are often mistaken for hummingbirds, which is why their common name is hummingbird

moths.

The forewings have hyalineareas or are fully scaled. The species with hyaline areas are initially with covered scales, but these are shed during their first flight. The antennae are strongly clubbed in both sexes, with a small recurved hook at the end. The abdomen ends in a large fan-tail of setae which resembles a lobster tail.

The genitalia of the male are asymmetrical, having the uncus divided and the two lobes subequal, heavily sclerotized with a rounded apex. The ostium bursae of the female is angled to the left.

[edit]
So, now you know!

Wordless Wednesday ( well almost)

2011-06-22T20:00:00.000-06:00

Thanks to all for the kind words!

Yep, I can still ride with the thumb in a splint. It might be in a cast tomorrow, but I still plan on riding with it.
We spent an hour riding Alpine with one of the bitless bridles. It went pretty good, but I'm not sure if I got it adjusted right. Back to the internet for further instructions.

Alpine was a little skittish, but I think she just needs more people bonding time. It likely will be a while before we venture out of the paddock. She is a very smooth riding horse!

To all the guys that asked for the Doc's name so that they could get a letter to their wives for excusing household chores, I will pass on the request, but remember, I have priority. This is Alberta so O.G, I didn't have to offer cash. Medicare takes care of those details.

Anatomy 101

2011-06-21T21:07:00.000-06:00

Ok, after a trip to Edmonton today, here is the story of the dislocated thumb, at least the part that I'm telling. The specialist said that I did not really dislocate the thumb, rather I broke off the two end bulges on bone #9 which caused the remainder of that bone to end up close to bone #1. What i thought was a dislocation was in fact two breaks on the end of the bone. When I pulled on it, things came back to almost normal, with a slight twist.

The doc talked about me coming in next week to have either of 2 things done.

1. making a small incision under general anesthesia and pinning the bones back together
2. pinning the bones without the incision under local freezing.

Either way it would mean a cast on for 6 weeks.

I told him OK as long as he formed the cast so that i could still hold the reins. He thought that was funny.

He also offered to write me a note saying" no cooking, no laundry, and no house work". My kind of Doc!

I was almost home when I got a call from him saying that they had a consultation back at the hospital and they thought the could position and cast without doing surgery. Again, my kind of Doc!

So, I go back in on Thursday to get option three done.

Life is awkward, but still good on the acreage.

In the meantime, they gave me a splint, read cast, which will make riding even more awkward.
To make it worse, I had to turn down the annual horse driven cattle drive by our neighbour taking the 120+ head up to the summer pasture, right down one of the main highways. It's always lots of fun!

Thumbs Up

2011-06-18T11:53:00.003-06:00

My first try at extreme close ups did not turn out too well. Either I have to get better focused or find a bigger spider.

The lilac bushes are now starting to bloom. If the weather would just warm up and stop raining, maybe we will get some butterflies.

The pasture is green and lush, but not for long as the three automatic mowers will make short work of it. The lower field is closed off and should be ready to rotate the horses in about two weeks.

Bonding continues. We have elected to trash the name "Blacky" and go with "Alpine" She seems to respond equally to both.

It's a little tough doing chores around the acreage as the dislocated thumb has turned into a broken thumb with a twist to it. This is why the swelling has not come down much. The x-rays today showed the bone at the base of the thumb is broken. The doctor was good, but said this is going to be difficult. He didn't elaborate , but booked me into the University Hospital in Edmonton on Tuesday for a specialist to take a look. I figure on taking a set of reins so that they can cast it in such a manner that I can still ride. That may be the tricky part, getting the cast so that I can hold the reins, but not hold a shovel, rake, wheelbarrow handle, or.... etc.

In the meantime, I am still feeding chickens, cutting grass and doing the normal stuff that needs to get done on an acreage.

Wordless Wednesday

2011-06-15T11:02:00.000-06:00

It's a Bleary Day

2011-06-14T16:56:00.000-06:00

Here is an older picture of our Rhubarb patch. It has expanded itself and is even healthier.

So, it's a rainy day, overcast and cool. After walking the new horse and trying to get her trust level up ( it has quite a way to go), I decided to pick some rhubarb. 15 cups did not even leave a hole in the patch, but allowed for two pies and a crumble.

The rhubarb is really good this year, juicy and nice and sweet.

It only took 8 stalks to get the 15 cups.Guess what we are having for supper tonight?

The crisp is still in the oven.

I got interrupted. The crumble is out of the oven

So is the cinnamon, raisin, cranberry loaf of bread

Rhubarb is the lowest maintenance plant that I can think of. Throw it some compost every year or so and split the roots every 20 years if it starts to decrease in size.

Life is really good ( and tasty) on the acreage!

Here is the recipe:

10 inch pie

One to two cups of sugar (ours only takes one)
3/4 cup of flour
5 cups of cut up fresh rhubarb (1/2 inch slices)
3 table spoons of butter or margarine

heat oven to 425 degrees. Prepare pastry. Stir together sugar, flour. Throw in the rhubarb and mix up well. Dot with butter, If using a full top crust add and flute. Slice slits in the crust. Cover edge with tin foil to prevent excess browning. Remove foil for last 15 minutes of cooking

Bake for 40 to 50 minutes or until the crust is brown and juice begins to bubble through the slits.

Enjoy! We are going to!

First Day!

2011-06-12T18:18:00.000-06:00

First a little groundwork.

Very compliant and some bonding

I put the tape on Blacky ( or Alpine... we haven't decided yet), and she comes in at 14.3 hands high and 846 pounds. Just right!

She has a very smooth walk and trot. Elaine hasn't taken her to cantor yet.

A 45 minute training session and the monsoon hit. I didn't ride as I am recovering from a dislocated thumb. It's a long story, but maybe I'll ride tomorrow.

Blacky

2011-06-11T21:00:00.001-06:00

Well, we brought her home today! meet Blacky, Elaine's new horse. She is a 16 year old registered Morgan Mare with A beautiful tail that flows to the ground and a full mane and incredible forelock. Best of all, she is a very well behaved horse with a very smooth walk and trot.

She is coal black with no markings at all, except for a brand on her hip. She loaded well, was at home in the trailer and off loaded with no problems.Currently she is isolated from the other two and this will continue for a few days until she joins "the herd". There was a lot of neighing and positioning for about 2 minutes and then everybody settled down.

She has one habit that is dangerous at the moment, and that is refusing to give her hind feet for picking or farrier work. She tries to cow kick. In close, it's not a problem, but eventually, I will have to trim her feet. Fortunately there is a trick that I learned when taking the farrier course that works to cure this. I have used it on two other horses with a similar problem and had them giving their feet and standing for trimming in about 15 minutes. Hopefully it will work on her. It does not involve twitching, a process that I guess has a place, but not on this acreage!

Expect more pictures as the process develops!

A great day to be on an Acreage!

Relaxing Thursday

2011-06-09T16:49:00.000-06:00

after buying this rust bucket about 3 years (or more) ago, I finally finished the wiring and took it for a test drive today. It tows really well. Now, all we need is an older horse, about 2 on the panic scale (out of 10) suitable for elderly people and grand kids to ride. We are going to Morinville tomorrow evening to look at one, and over to Edson next Wednesday. There are several other possibilities also.

After cutting the grass for several hours (not my grass), I decided to take the afternoon off and give Tucker a work out. She was exceptionally well behaved and did not protest at all. After an hour and a half, she was happy to be home. Me too!

The day was 22C and sunny with no wind. It was hot, but enjoyable. Friday, I plan on giving Biz her turn at trail riding.

A Busy Week on the Acreage!

2011-06-06T16:18:00.000-06:00

The goils doing what they love to do, eat! They are now getting pretty shiny and are slightly out of shape. I saddled up Biz and gave her about an hours work out. She was puffing and sneezing and generally complaining about the work load. She will get over it!

Tucker's Fire Star, AKA Tucker will have a turn under saddle tomorrow, weather permitting. She is well muscled as suits a quarter horse, but has a roll or two that do not belong. Must work on that!

The snow storm dumped 4 cm of snow on us. It bent a few trees over, but no permanent damage was done. The peas and potatoes are in the small garden and the potatoes are up a couple of inches.

The rest of the stuff went into the large garden today. There is still room for the cucumbers, Zuchinnis and pumpkins, but they get another week in the green house. We are still not past the frost potential.

The rhubarb is taking off and needs to be picked and pied. My job for tomorrow? Half the grass got it's second cutting today. That will likely be a twice weekly thing for a while. Now all I have to do is sit back and watch things grow, and play with the horses.

We went and looked at a couple of horses Saturday, but none fit the bill. I have expanded the network a bit and I am sure the right horse will turn up.

Life is Good!

2011-06-05T19:30:00.001-06:00

I received this from a friend. I have tried checking with Stopes, but got no hits.

It does make you wonder, though.
What do you think, True? or Fake?

When someone puts things into simple English, it is so much easier to understand. And it makes sense, too!!!!!!!!!
Read this . . . there's room for thought!!!
Professor Ian Plimer (a member of the School of Earth and Environmental Sciences at the University of Adelaide. He is also a joint member of the School of Civil, Environmental and Mining Engineering) could not have said it better!
If you've read his book you will agree, this is a good summary.
Are you sitting down?

Okay, here's the bombshell. The volcanic eruption in Iceland, since its first spewing of volcanic ash has, in just FOUR DAYS, NEGATED EVERY SINGLE EFFORT

you have made in the past five years to control CO₂emissions on our planet, all of you.
Of course you know about this evil carbon dioxide that we are trying to suppress, that vital chemical compound that every plant requires to live and grow, and to synthesize into oxygen for us humans, and all animal life.
I know, it's very disheartening to realize that all of the carbon emission savings you have accomplished while suffering the inconvenience and expense of: driving Prius hybrids, buying fabric grocery bags, sitting up till midnight to finish your kid's "The Green Revolution" science project, throwing out all of your non-green cleaning supplies, using only two squares of toilet paper, putting a brick in your toilet tank reservoir, selling your SUV and speedboat, vacationing at home instead of abroad, nearly getting hit every day on your bicycle, replacing all of your 50 cents light bulbs with $10.00 light bulbs...well, all of those things you have done have all gone down the tubes in just four days.
The volcanic ash emitted into the Earth's atmosphere in just four days - yes - FOUR DAYS ONLY by that volcano in Iceland, has totally erased every single effort you have made to reduce the evil beast, carbon. And there are around 200 active volcanoes on the planet spewing out this crud any one time - EVERY DAY.
I don't really want to rain on your parade too much, but I should mention that when the volcano Mt Pinatubo erupted in the Philippines in 1991, it spewed out more greenhouse gases into the atmosphere than the entire human race had emitted in its entire YEARS on earth. Yes folks, Mt Pinatubo was active for over one year, think about it.
Of course I shouldn't spoil this touchy-feely tree-hugging moment and mention the effect of solar and cosmic activity and the well-recognized 800-year global heating and cooling cycle, which keep happening, despite our completely insignificant efforts to affect climate change.
And I do wish I had a silver lining to this volcanic ash cloud but the fact of the matter is that the bush fire season across the western USA and Australia this year alone will negate your efforts to reduce carbon in our world for the next two to three years. And it happens every year.
Just remember that your government just tried to impose a whopping carbon tax on you on the basis of the bogus ''human-caused'' climate change scenario.
Hey, isn't it interesting how they don't mention ''Global Warming'' any more, but just ''Climate Change'' - you know why? It's because the planet has COOLED by 0.7 degrees in the past century and these global warming bull artists got caught with their pants down.
And just keep in mind that you might yet have an Emissions Trading Scheme (that whopping new tax) imposed on you, that will achieve absolutely nothing except make you poorer. It won't stop any volcanoes from erupting, that's for sure.
But hey, relax, give the world a hug and have a nice day!
PS: I wonder if Iceland is buying carbon offsets?

A Little Nostalgia

2011-06-03T19:44:00.000-06:00

While browsing through some old albums, I found this picture of my first new car and first (and only)

wife-to-be.

The car was a 1969 Jaguar XKE .

Elaine was the first, and only, person allowed to sit on the hood.

She is still with me, but in the springtime, I sure miss the car!

All in all, I got the better part of the two.

Just When You Think........

2011-06-02T19:47:00.000-06:00

The weather man is out to get us with 2 to 5 cm of wet snow forecast for tomorrow! All in favour of impeaching the weatherman, please say "Yes". They have been wrong before, and hopefully will be wrong this time. The potatoes are up, half the garden is in and the fruit trees are blooming (Some have even set). If you hear a really loud scream from the north, that will be us, venting! Blahhh!

The Joys of Spring

2011-06-01T09:57:00.000-06:00

Biz and Boots enjoying each other.

Boots in the field of horse candy

The flowers, apple trees and grass are all going great guns.

Even the bee is happy!

The driveway is starting to look lush

Lest we forget what it was like on April 14.

A lot can happen in 6 weeks!

A Typical Day

2011-05-31T13:10:00.001-06:00

The Easy Life!

1. Feed the chickens
2. Water the chicks
3.Feed the horses
4. Water the horses
5.Cut the lawn ( or equivalent), 4 hours
6. Have coffee
7. Dig, hoe, weed the garden
8. Play with the dog
9.Play with the horses
10. Have lunch
11. Fix something
12. Run errands
13. Clear out the deadfalls from the last storm
14. Have supper
15. watch the news
16. go to bed!
17. Repeat next day with some modifications!

I was watching a guy on the news yesterday who was cutting back to only working half days in his retirement. No more than 12 hours in a day!

Frugal, In a Cheap Way

2011-05-30T16:43:00.000-06:00

When it came to taking the old rail and A frame fence down, it came to me that there were a lot of good things in that fence, namely the 15 pounds of 8 inch spikes that I put in to make the fence about 7 years ago.

On closer investigation, it seems that only a light coating of rust was on them. This made them salvageable for some future project. They pounded out OK and the crow bar removed them without bending many. A few smacks with the 2 pound ball peen hammer on the anvil corrected that issue.

Now, I need to start figuring on some inexpensive project that I can recycle those dudes into.

Certain people by the name of Elaine have called me a pack rat in the past ( plus a few other things alluding to cheap), but seriously, how could I just burn up these logs without doing a recovery attempt?

Just the other day, a friend was looking for some aluminum flashing. I know I had two partial rolls in the shed. When I went to retrieve them I found that I must have thrown them out when I cleaned out the shed last fall. Now, this is a prime reason, never to throw anything out, or to clean out a shed, for that matter.

My friend had to go and purchase enough for a small job.

Lesson learned: Never throw out anything, for you never know when you might find a need! All junk is potentially good stuff looking for a home!

Finally Getting Caught Up!

2011-05-27T16:22:00.000-06:00

One of the BIG jobs this year was to replace the log rail fence in our riding paddock. The A frames had rotted away and most of the rails were no longer sound. What can you expect when you put a fence up in a hurry on the cheap 'cause you have acquired two horses and no place to put them? They served well for almost 7 years.

There is still a little cross bracing to do and a whole bunch of clean up! Fortunately I have two grand kids coming up tomorrow. Did I ever pass it on that I believe in child labour?

Hopefully they will be of more help than boots!

Mr.

And Mrs.

After 4 days of rain and wet weather, the wild Saskatoon trees are flowering.

Now for the best part!

After about 3years (or more), I am getting a raise!
This means that I can socialize with my buddies over coffee at Timmie's without having to scrape up all the loose change in my sock drawers. I can now look up and around rather than keeping my eyes on the ground looking for pennies, or possibly even quarters!

Now this was interesting! I didn't have to kick my heels on the floor, blubber, or throw a tantrum, or heaven forbid, stomp out of the room. Elaine just said "OK".

I think the honey-do list might have grown, and I haven't realized yet just how much!

Now, instead of $10/week, I am up to $15 per week. I heard something about me not blowing it all at Timmie's. Elaine is right, I should patronize other watering holes , as a man of means should do. Sort of spread the wealth around a bit! Yes, maybe even flaunt it! (But in a humble way)

Life is Great on the Acreage!

View From The Kitchen Window

2011-05-25T21:29:00.001-06:00

This doe came in at last light to try out my salt lick. She didn't mind the horses at all. Her fawn from last year came in also, but a little later when the light was gone for photos.

She seemed to know exactly what she was looking for. The horses paid them no mind at all. Now, we will get along OK as long as she leaves the garden and orchard alone. It looks like it is time to get a new battery and arm up the water canon for the summer.

On a short walk

2011-05-18T12:32:00.000-06:00

Osprey

I found the nest so I will go back!

Common Loon

Common Merganzer

More loon

What Would You Take?

2011-05-17T08:21:00.000-06:00

Here is the scenario. We were experiencing a power outage that was massive. It was reported by Fortis to extend from Onoway all the way to Edson, including Woodlands County plus 37 other counties. In other words, the high winds likely took down some transmission towers. We have 25, 9 day old chicks and 12, 9 day old turkeys that need heat.

What to do? Fire up the portable generator and the problem is solved! Not so! The dude would not start!

OK, over to the neighbours to borrow theirs. While I was pulling out of the driveway, a Department of Swamps and Marshes fellow in a half ton pulls up and says that there is a wild fire just over the hill and that we should be prepared to move out immediately with minutes notice.

OK, I went back to the house, told Elaine what was going on and started packing. We were done in about 15 minutes, and ready to go. I hooked up the generator and got heat on for the chicks, then put halters on the horses with name tags, owners name and phone numbers duct taped inside a plastic bag to the halter. I figured that if the fire crested the hill, I would cut the neighbours fence and turn the horses loose. He has a quarter section with very few trees, short grass and lots of room.

The wind was from the south east gusting to 65 km/h and the fire was climbing the hill into the wind. Our friend lived on the downwind side of the fire and kept us posted on what was happening. I drove down and talked to the fire chief and looked at the situation. I figured the fire would climb the hill to the crest and then meet the wind front which would likely stop it dead in its tracks. The real hazard was in the direction of the wind, towards our friends place. Anyway, they had a helicopter spotter and 16 men plus 2 pumpers on the ground and they soon had it out. They took their time getting into the source because there was a tree across the line and wires on the ground. Even though the area had no live power, they had to wait until Fortis isolated that run of line.

OK, that is the overall scenario.

Now, what would you take in 15 minutes notice?

All we packed went into 2 large boxes and a couple of shopping bags.

Medicine, a change of clothes, camera, computer (it has 10,000 family photos on it), Tooth brush, ID, wallets, Bibles, Tax files and that was basically it!

Fortunately, there was no need to evacuate, but it really focused our minds on what was important. All the rest was "Stuff", and easily replaced.

Now, what would you take. I would be interested in knowing.

I can really appreciate what are neighbours to the north in Slave Lake are going through. Approximately 40% of the town was burned down and about 7000 people evacuated. We were lucky!

The picture is not of our fire, or of Slave lake.

Work Day

2011-05-16T14:36:00.000-06:00

The ground is finally dry enough to get around to some serious gardening. We loaded the trailer, hauled the black dirt and composted manure from the field pile to the garden.

Everybody got involved

And I mean everybody!

However, some chose to nap in the cool dirt!

How Do They Do It?

2011-05-14T09:06:00.000-06:00

It seems that you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink. However, he can find a mud hole anywhere, even when things are dried up .

It's the same with Biz. Note the scar on the shoulder from a kick in her younger life, also the hole in her neck where someone severed a muscle. Neither seem to bother her performance, or her desire to "get down and dirty".

One of Four!

2011-05-13T12:21:00.000-06:00

The Downy woodpeckers have returned and it looks like we have two nesting pairs within 200 feet of the house. Over the summer, they get very tame and can be approached easily. Last year we had 5 babies flopping around and making quite a racket. maybe this year we will have lots more!