blessings – As Far As The Eye Can See

Still Here!

Friday morning: April 5th – With my coffee beside me I am geared up to check in. I have hardly blogged this winter. I have thought about it a lot of times but time has felt hard to come by. I am hoping to do better. The fact is, it feels like I have hardly been home and a side truth of that is that I am counting my blessings.

Any day now our first calves will start coming. The first shift of our visiting calving crew have already arrived. My daughter Gina is here for another week, when I take her to the airport I am picking up Anja our friend from Switzerland, when I take her back to the airport in mid May I am picking up our friends from Nova Scotia who are coming for almost two weeks. We have friends and family to share this whole season of ranching with. I will be cooking a lot, I am looking forward to being home and focused.

Russ took this picture of Gina heading in for supper after the last check of the cows.

What shaped the first quarter of 2024 was travel. Russell volunteered to serve on a forum organized by “Farmers for Climate Solutions.” That had me joining him on three different workshop trips, he had meetings in all three prairie provinces. I will say more about this in another blog. Travelling with Russ was fun but more than that it allowed me some experiences I would never have had otherwise. The best part is we met some really nice people.

Last summer I let my mind wander into the territory of my hopes and longings for my life. I wrote it down. I want to travel was one thing that emerged clearly. I guess a person has to be careful what they wish for because for a while recently it seemed I was never home.

A quick summary of the last three weeks will give me a jumping off point for future blogs and if I never get back to them you will know that I am resting!

On Tuesday March 12th Russ and I headed west. We carpooled with a kindred spirit from the workshops Russ was attending. We had a very fun roadtrip that found us safely in Kananaskis by nightfall.

Saturday March 16th had us heading home, we had the chance to give a friend from Calgary a ride to Regina, which meant our car was full and our trip home felt like a party at times.

Before heading off again I had two days at home with some church leadership and two important meetings.

Morgan and I left Carnduff late on Tuesday the 19th in order to be on a plane out of Regina early the next morning. After a long travel day Wednesday we found ourselves walking into the night air outside the airport in Lexington, Kentucky.

4:10am – checked in and coffee in hand at the Regina Airport.

At 10:05pm Lexington time we were off the plane and saw this sign. It felt welcoming and a good photo op.

As we waited for our Uber our first moments in Lexington allowed us to savor the sight of pots of established tulips. Lovely!

Morgan and I spent the next four days attending an event at the Kentucky Horse Park called “Road to the Horse.” It was an awesome experience.

When the event was over we had to get home so were on a plane out of Lexington early on the 25th. I had booked a decent flight schedule but it got changed after booking and it turned out we had an eight hour layover in Atlanta. Morgan and I found our way out of the Atlanta airport, got in an Uber and headed to the Martin Luther King Centre. This was a major experience for me. To be explored more in a future blog.

We landed back in Regina at 1:15am on the Tuesday. I had a hotel booked and we crashed for about six hours before Morgan headed back to Carnduff on his own. Russ came to Regina by mid afternoon, we met one of our oldest friends for supper and then attended the musical that Jill was in “The Prom.” It was a great show. The next day we spent time with Jill and did a bit of shopping. We were home in time for a later supper with Morgan.

Some sad developments at home meant that my schedule filled up quickly for the first six days back. Good Friday, Easter Sunday, three funerals and a board meeting for the music festival meant there was no down time. Towards the end of all that Gina flew into Regina and Jill drove her to the ranch. We had some family time. Jill went home last night. I am struggling with extreme weariness but I have so many things to think about.

Our first family supper in a very long while.

I have a personal standard for myself that a blog has to be interesting from a human or ranch perspective and/or funny. A recitation of what I have been up to is not interesting in my mind. Its just a list until the meaning of it can be unpacked. I really hope to poke at the pieces of whats here and share a few stories in the weeks ahead.

In the meantime, writing a full five days later now, I have this to say. Wow, am I tired. The demands of travel and leadership, but moreso I think just being out of routine has me feeling really disoriented and wow can I nap!

Our first calf arrived a couple days ago and there hasn’t been anything else since. Once things start I have the feeling we will be having lots of birth announcements. The first cow to calve this year was “Butter” and her calf was born on the day of the eclipse, so we named it Eclipse.

Here is a quote that fell out of my funeral notes as I put them away today, it ties up alot of what my recent days were all about.

Anne Lamott said: “Easter says that love is more powerful than death, bigger than the dark, bigger than cancer and bigger even then airport security lines.”

See you soon!

Another Week Gone By

Its Sunday evening. Another week has passed at the Bar MW Ranch. This morning at church a very dear person told me, “I follow everything you write on Facebook.” I was so warmed by how sincerely she said this. It strengthened my resolve to share at least a few things more often. Pictures speak volumes. Words can overhwhelm. So here is some captioned pictures to tell you about the week that has been.

I had my eyes examined this week and picked out new glasses. I did not choose these ones. But if I had money to throw around I would have chosen these as a second pair. I love how zippy they are.

Grandma Shirley came with me to the eye doctor in Estevan. Then we went to lunch and then some shopping. I asked her if I could take this picture to send to the kids, because they miss her. She agreed. I was only partly telling the truth. I wanted the picture for myself. I am crazy about this friend of mine and I want all these souvenirs of our adventures together.

Jill is into her last two weeks of preparation for the musical she is in. This past week they added the orchestra to the practices. Jill loved it. She sent us this photo of her taken when she and some friends came across a poster for the musical, “Seussical.” Russ and I are thrilled she has created this opportunity for herself.

Gina sent us this selfie. It meant alot to us. She has been off work with a concussion. We love seeing the sparkle in her eye as she is back to work. I told her it reminded me of Pippi Longstocking, as it seems she is walking a horse on the streets of Toronto. She liked that connection.

I am loving being Morgan’s Mom at home. He is so interesting and fun. Here he is using a bug gun. It projects salt at flies to take them down. At the same time he is playing with his dog. Some will remember that Coffee had 3 broken toes earlier in the summer. Her healing has not been seamless but thanks to our vets she is doing great. She warms my heart immensely.

Our friend Jen arrived for a short visit. She brought me a bunch of headbands, because I had been admiring hers on her last visit. We did a photoshoot and included dogs, ropes and kitchen tools lying around. Headbands for all!

Thursday morning we went to Chopper K to sell last years late calves, we call them “grassers”. It was a weird morning. We were paid prices higher than we have ever seen before. The market is so strong right now. Instead of feeling elated I just felt odd. I am grateful, no doubt about it, very grateful, but living through the cycles of the markets brings about interesting knowing and feelings. How can anyone afford to eat when we get prices like this? How long will this last? What will the downward swing of prices look like when it happens? This extreme doesn’t represent bonus money, just some to help us recover more fully from the terrible ranching year that 2021 was. And then a lingering worry, how will our long term expenses be affected by such short term price surges? The price is partly a response to the fact that there are just less calves to be bought. The drought which is being seen in so many places has pushed many people out of the business. It is others suffering that has contributed to the prices we saw this week. So, yeah, it was a complicated feeling kind of morning.

We make it a tradition to get a picture of Kim from the auction mart passing us the cheque.

Thursday afternoon I had my hair cut. I had about 4 inches taken off I think. The next day Russ and I went to Estevan for a dentist appointment for him. We got to have breakfast out in the big city. This was taken at that breakfast.

Morg called me that afternoon and said, “come out to the barn I think I got something you will love.” I whined. I was working at my desk and wanted to focus. He walked this yearling colt to the driveway and called me again. He had me, I walked out and indeed enjoying petting and scratching this beauty he is working with.

The reason for Jenn’s visit earlier in the week was to leave us with her dog as she headed away to a wedding. We have enjoyed having Paisley around, for this week our dog census has been two German Shephard or part GS, and three collies. It has not been dull!

Just for laughs……when I suggested earlier this year that these socks were ready for the bin Russ resisted. He has some connection to them. And so…..they remain in rotation.

We received a gift yesterday. A print from an artist who is Russell’s god-daughter. She created this piece to honor murdered and missing indigenous women. We are grateful to have this in our home.

Russ has made it his habit lately to capture some pictures of me leading worship in the different places I find myself. This morning at Alameda we had the sacrament of communion. Morgan assisted in the serving. There were some hilarious moments that were a part of church this morning as some things didn’t go as planned. A whole blog post could be made describing some of the reasons we laughed today.

This is just silly. A record Russ made of me with my new “recipe.” Slices of apple, dipped in a shotglass of maple syrup and then dipped in whipped cream. Delish!

Russ, Laurie and Morgan checked some of our herds this afternoon. Russ reports the animals are looking okay, but the grass is really getting affected by the lack of rain and the grasshoppers. Its a worry.

Before Laurie went home we had a beer and some chips and a darn good visit. Russ commented again today, how much he appreciates that Laurie is so close, both distance wise and friendship wise. Our cat enjoyed being part of the refreshment hour.

After a week that had us whipping up and down the highways and eating in restaurants alot (3 meals at Chopper K Steakhouse in 2 days….eek, plus other meals out) its nice to wind this post down in the midst of some rain, tucked in our own comfy corner of the world, together with our dogs. I think its hard to grasp how truly blessed we are.

Day 18 – Calving Season 2022 – Ode to the Helpers

Its almost 7:30am on Day 18 of calving. I never blogged yesterday, in part because I went out with a friend last night and once home it was bedtime. Russell and I have decided we need to get to bed earlier, we are both exhausted. It is me that keeps us up late, we always go to bed together, so If I’m up puttering, just doing “one last thing” or putting the finishing touches on a blog, it means late nights sometimes. The morning alarm then feels very hard to respond to for Russ, meanwhile I can sleep later. SO, I am here now catching up on yesterday a bit and I have committed to Russ to quit my late night to do list.

It was a hard day.

It was a good day in lots of ways, we had nine calves born by 9am. Our good news calf “Kiev” from day 16 was doing well. Here is a video that Russell sent me of Kiev and her Mom leaving the little barn and moving into the pole shed with other established pairs. This was heartwarming to see.

But it was a hard day.

It was so cold and windy which meant very harsh conditions for calves. It was likely inevitable that I would have a calf come into the house. That started early on, after Russell’s first check, he didn’t think the calf needed too much, mostly a warm up. It turned out I had about three hours with it. Despite my best efforts I did not make a lot of progress. The calf was the son of “Kiss”, we named it “little Kiss”. I made progress but it was hindered by little Kiss’s unwillingness to take anything from a bottle. So he was warm and dry after lots of work but lacked vitality. I made the judgment call to have him return to his mother. Before he left Jill gave him a needle, an intra muscular injection of vitamins, not the exact formula recommended to us on Facebook after Day 16 blog but what we had on hand. Morgan came and got him and did the fireman carry back to the barn, taking Kiev’s old spot. When I checked him just before lunch he was not doing that well, Kiss was standing over him and looking at me with an expression that I thought meant, “help me.” I called Russ. He came in at lunch and said he didn’t think little Kiss was going to make it but he couldn’t do anything to assist at that point because when he tried to go in the pen Kiss wanted to kill him. So. I guess Kiss was not in the seeking help mindset I had guessed earlier. The optimistic city girl strikes again. Later conversation with Russ had me sitting at my desk, trying to work but feeling just horrible. In those short hours I had bonded with little Kiss.

I made an adorable video of us together, one that made me proud of who I have become, and now the calf was suffering and probably dead. Little kiss didn’t die, but was not thriving as we went to bed last night. Russ had left the gates open so that Kiss could maybe leave and go into the shed but she did not leave and little Kiss persevered. This morning I got a picture of the two of them, little kiss is still not looking just right, but she was not dead at daybreak. I don’t know what to think. I wish I had given her a little more of my time and patience, I should have got miracle worker Jill on the case earlier, I don’t know.

It was a hard day because the calves are coming very steady now and a little bit of a circus effect builds up. Russ’s head is spinning, remembering who has calved and watching for good bonding, trying to figure out what he is seeing when he spots a calf on its own, the snow makes everything harder because the chance for everybody to be spread out is not there in the same way. Keeping the cows crowded together heightens the chance of disease and parental confusion, occasionally after a bad snow storm Russ has four cows claiming the same calf, and abandoning their own and all “fighty”. Its just a tricky circus and it looks like it will be for a few days more. Russ is tired.

It was a hard day because we are starting to glimpse a pattern. Its our 2^nd calf heifers who seem to be having the calves that are not thriving, or who are not thriving as Moms. Russell’s theory is that the hard winter we just got through took a toll on these girls who were not as big or fat as our more established cow herd. They struggled more. We hate that.

So, a day that is a litany of hard things is a good day to celebrate the helpers. They bolster us a great deal. The week we have put in was boosted by friendship, by random acts of generosity and by solidarity. Shortly after the blizzard day we had times when two different local cowboys came to ride with Russell and Morgan, to assess the herd and move it in for the night. Strictly speaking it was not necessary, but it was nice, someone to listen to Russell and Morgan’s stories, to share a joke with, to share the scope of what we are doing. So these cowboys, Laurie, a cousin who works in the oilfield and David, our friend who runs an autobody shop in town, had the instinct to draw near and see and do what we were seeing and doing. It meant a lot. With no pictures from their time this week I pulled some old ones to put some visual to their presence with us.

David and Laurie working with us on a December day in 2020. (A Liz Griffin Photography image.)

Laurie at the start of our longest cowchase that we must do – October 2, 2021 (A Liz Griffin Photography image.)

David hard at work – December 2020 (A Liz Griffin Photography image.)

Last year a manager with Athena Oilfield told Russ they could help us out if we needed it. “Be sure to ask” was the message Russ got, so when Russ saw a snowblower clearing one of their lease roads near to our working chute at the calving pasture he made the call. The end result is that we had some professional snow clearing equipment on the job clearing a spot where Russ had already spent two hours cleaning out. Blowing snow meant Russ was already almost getting stuck again. After the job was done Russ could bring the truck into the loading chute at the pasture and had enough space to get turned around as well. What a gift to us.

Russ took this picture from the skidsteer, its not great but you can see that green blower on the back of the bigger tractor on the left.

We had some offers of help that we didn’t need to call on but it is sure nice to know that people are ready to help.

A fellow we are only barely acquainted with called to offer Russ an extra trailer and diesel generator he had, wondered if we might need them to warm calves. It would not have been easy to get to us with these items but he was willing to try.

A neighbor who lives about 5 miles away called Russ during the blizzard to offer his help. He doesn’t have cattle anymore. I could not imagine how he was even going to get here, but he was willing to leave his people and try. That is solidarity.

Neighbors who live further, and have cows, but are at a different point with calving called to offer to come over and help, again, how would they even get here? Hard times bring out people’s courage and stamina like nothing else.

Numerous people checked in with Russell and I during the days, sharing strength with us by their concern for us.

So day 17 was a hard day but a good day to ponder what blessings we have known, the kind of blessings that severely soften the blow of the hard days we can’t escape. Our United Church creed starts off “we are not alone, we live in God’s world.” I have that in my head as I ponder all that I shared today.

And here is a latebreaking update……just about to hit the Publish button and I got this 13 second video from Russell.

After this another video came through, but it was pretty fuzzy, Russ had to tell me, it was a video of little kiss actually taking milk from its Mom. Thats the magic! I am feeling soothed by this development, and thankful.

Day 13 – Postcards from the Heart

October 11, 2020
Mom, things feel very serious this a.m. I pray that things can be figured out, and that your comfort can be much enhanced. It is hard to be far away but at the same time, to be honest, it is okay to not be responsible to assess and get help. It is hard to fathom just how tricky 2020 has become. Your example to us is that we can always count our blessings. These 3 pictures capture our greatest blessings 1) Love 2) Gina and her beautiful passion 3) Jill and her deep well of character 3) Morgan and his joy in being a friend to all. (Thats all “mostly” so). Without your life these particular blessings would not exist. Without you there would be no Kathy Kyle, no Gina, Jill or Morgan. You and Dad birthed blessings into the world, multiple generations of them. You are a blessing.

These pictures were taken by Liz Griffin Photography in August 2020 when we celebrated our upcoming 20th wedding anniversary by having a small ceremony to renew our vows.

This is the 13th of 22 postcard messages I sent to my Mom in the fall of 2020. It was becoming clear that I was not going to have the chance to send all of the 150 pictures that I had printed up to send to her, time was becoming short. I started sending more than one picture at a time.