Calving – As Far As The Eye Can See

Glimpses of the Season

Hi! Well, its calving season at the Bar MW and things are perking along.
Between the people and the cow action this is a very interesting place to be a 56 year old woman. I don’t quite know how to write about our days, where to put the focus, so here are a bunch of captioned pictures.

Calving started early, is about half done and has been marked by mostly decent weather and normal losses, so far. The odd thing about this season is that we are half way through and have had only one set of twins. We had so many last year. I haven’t heard any chatter or done research yet about what the difference might be caused by.

In the pictures that follow these big things come up: our girls were home for Easter, we have hired a young woman to help us til late summer and Russ had an injury.

This first picture is one Gina took as she and Jill headed to the ranch with Jill’s cat “Mayonnaise Head”. (There is a seriously good reason for the name.) Its such a fun picture of Jill. It is really handy to have Jill in Regina and able to do airport pickups.

We had our celebration breakfast after the girls got to the ranch. This was my view as I grabbed the last thing from the kitchen. This does a Mama’s heart good.

Russ and I with our kids home.

The next day I was up in time to catch glimpses of the crew before they headed out for the morning check. This first picture is Gina, who usually finds herself on a Toronto bus or subway first thing in the day.

I love this picture of Jill. She is so darn cute. She has become really good with crocheting and made this hat she is wearing.

And introducing…….Clare Olver. After having our friend Anja with us for the last two calving seasons we realized how valuable extra help is with the work of the season. Clare was with us last summer for three weeks as we dealt with summer work, that led to Russ knowing she would be a good match for the work he needed help with this spring. Clare is quite amazing, she has the flexibility, stamina and humor to live the days we live, she has quickly become accustomed to working from a horse every day and she has won over the hearts of all the friends we have introduced her to.

The morning crew as they headed out to check the heifers.

We have been blessed to have friends around on lots of different days as we have needed to move calved out pairs out of the calving pasture. On this particular day we had many helpers altogether.

I came out to the barn after lunch on Easter Sunday and grabbed a few pictures.

I was still in my church clothes, Gina was ready to cowboy. She had forgotten to take her spurs off as she hustled out the door to church in the morning after the early check. I am not sure my ancestors could have imagined one of their own showing up to Easter Sunday celebrations with spurs on, but the times they are a changing and I was very grateful to have her there.

Later in the day Gina came flying up the hill and I was able to catch the moment.

I have always said that watching Russ ride is like seeing poetry in motion. I am struggling to find the words to describe what I see when Morgan is on a horse. Its kind’ve like he was born there. In fact his birth was a straightforward hospital delivery with no horse in sight. He was in his Dad’s arms on a saddle, going top speed, chasing horses within 8 months of his birth. It shows and I see it in this picture.

We made a few memories at the table as we celebrated Easter. We are still talking about the whipped potatoes that Tammy brought to share. We haven’t had Christmas or Easter with Gina since 2021 so it was pretty great to be gathered altogether with our people.

The next morning we had another photo shoot with Liz Griffin. I am slowly making progress on our book about ranching but we need more pictures of calving season. We took the chance to do that while Gina and Jill were home and while lots of calves were being born. I was Liz’s driver through the pasture as we tracked what the cowboys were doing and kept close tabs on a cow that was calving. We got some pretty real images I think.

Liz did a sneak peek release of this picture on her facebook page. I love it!

After the photo shoot Liz joined us for coffee. We got to tell her how the winning knight crowned me “the queen of love and beauty” at the Medieval times show we attended in Toronto. I came home with this sash and crown, we have had fun sharing it with our visitors. Here Clare modeled it for Liz.

Around supper time, while moving pairs one of our grumpy cows charged and hit Russell’s horse and she hit it hard. This made Sundance buck and despite Russell’s best effort, staying on his horse so long and traveling such a distance that the grumpy cow was no longer a threat when Russ hit the ground, well, he hit the ground, and his glasses broke his fall, and broke, and cut him and the impact fractured his eye socket. Before the following picture was taken at 10:40 at night we had been to the Oxbow ER, Dr. Botha had stitched Russ up and ordered an immediate CT scan at Estevan to ensure there was no blain breed. He had also hooked us up with a specialist in Regina to assess vision issues. We had brought a farm truck to Oxbow, thinking we were only going for stitches, but when it became apparent we needed to go on, with my Bronco in the shop getting struts replaced, and not confident at all that the old farm truck would get us all the way to Regina I borrowed a vehicle from my friend Sandy in Oxbow. What a gift to have generous and supportive friends. We got the CT scan done and were in Regina by 1:30am.

Russell’s specialist appointment was at 11am so we took the chance to snoop around a few stores, we needed to buy Russ some clean clothes. Before Lammles opened we got sunglasses at Dollorama to perk up his look and went to check out the Lindt chocolate situation at London Drugs. To Russell’s delight the bunnies were on for less than half price, I picked out two, Russ guffawed, and took a whole flat. The hazelnut Lindt bunnies are his absolute favorite, he calls them “my guys”.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, our kids, Clare and Ron were the crew handling calving and the weather had turned snowy overnight. Here is Gina dressed for the conditions.

Here is how things looked in the pasture as Jill, Coffee dog, Maddie dog, Clare and Morgan headed out to check the heifers. Gina sent us this picture and made us proud but also slightly concerned. These are tough ranching days. We had offers of help from Laurie and David but the kids said they could handle it. Morgan said there were times it was “Lord of the Flies” but they got through it. They did a really good job, most everything was in order when Russ and I returned.

As Russ and I returned from Regina the girls were driving there, Gina had a plane to catch and Jill was due back at work. We met part way for supper and good bye hugs. The next day I took this picture as Russ modeled the crown for the queen of love and beauty and showed off his clean stitches.

There is a little story about why we recently started collecting bunnies. It led to a seasonal “bunny tree” in our hallway. When Russ got a minute he nestled all his treasured Lindt chocolate bunnies among the others. It is very cute.

This is my absolute favorite shelf.

The fact that Clare can smile when the weather is iffy, the days are long and she sees her boss get hurt is simply amazing. From this angle you would never know that Russ was not tip top.

I still find it pretty bizarre that this is my life. So I take selfies when I am doing things where I surprise myself. I have taken care of lots of calves, this should therefore not be surprising to me, but it is. I was getting a bottle into a calf.

The calf I was feeding was in the trailer which allowed me to see some of the crew at work that day. Cousin Jenn was part of the crew.

Friday we were back into Regina for a consult with a plastic surgeon eye guy regarding Russell’s eye socket. This got Russ a little excited. He thought since he was seeing a plastic surgeon maybe he could put in an order for a new and improved look. He kind’ve had his heart set on looking like Cary Grant. He asked me to cue up a picture of him to show to the surgeon. This is what I found.

Morgan thought it was more likely he would turn out like John Wayne when he was Rooster Cogburn.

Jill put in her two cents. She figured Russ was heading for the look of one of the old guys on the Muppets and sent in this picture.

As it turned out the surgeon is not sure if an operation is actually needed. Time for the swelling to go out will determine that. However, a perk of the trip in to see him was a trip to Costco. As we went in I headed for a cart and saw this guy pictured below. I read his shirt. I was just ahead of Russ and had time to think, “is there any chance that Russ won’t comment to this guy?” Like clockwork I heard Russ say, “hey I like your shirt.” Within 30 seconds he had gained permission to take this picture. I think I might be married to the most uninhibited man in Saskatchewan.

Cowboy David joined the crew on Saturday. They had a tricky job with some extra challenging conditions, including our dog Knightwing acting badly, but these four prevailed and got the job done.

Over the weekend Clare and Morgan made Russell an eye patch so that he could resemble that John Wayne character without having the surgery it required. Its pretty close.

This next picture looks harsh but restraining the animal allows safety for all. While Morgan secured the rope Russ and Clare pulled a calf. Everyone was fine in the end. This is our 2nd calf heifer Hoyt Axton. Clare is starting vet tech training in the fall, she did a clearing of the airways and some massage to get this calf established. Good to have her on hand!

Exactly one hour before I was standing in the pulpit on Sunday morning I was getting a bottle into a calf that wasn’t used to it, it was a bit of a struggle. Russell had phoned me, “if you can leave your sermon prep for a bit we have a really hungry calf in the shed.” Things were under control so I headed out but thinking I could get mucked up I waited to get dressed. Clare caught me but she then took over for me, which helped me alot.

You made it this far……if you have 13 seconds, here is a glimpse of a snowy calving crew.

Here is the end of this post. You made it THIS far…..here is a little craziness, what happens when the “kids” are left alone to calve the cows and come in to warm up? Is this what Morgan meant when he said it got “Lord of the Flies”?

Boil the kettle……

If you were coming over for a visit we would sit down with our mugs and tell each other a few of our stories. Here are a few stories arising from the pictures I have.

Since Christmas I have been obsessed with mugs more than I already was. I have realized what makes a mug perfect for me and I am on the hunt. This one is not perfect but close.

One day this week Ron was in the house briefly, after leaving he popped right back in and said, “there’s a house going down the road!!!” Morgan and Russ were near. We were all enthused. I rushed to the west door to get this picture. It stirred up the incredible excitement we felt when it was our house coming down the road and prompted a little reminiscing. I do not envy the homeowners the myriad details that now unfold before they can move in but its really special to remember how it was for us.

That same day Morgan and I were enroute to town when we saw our neighbor putting some miles on this young horse getting it ready for a big event. It struck me as such a beautiful sight. It made me think of older times. We got ahead of him then stopped and did a little video. Curt stopped when he caught up to us and we had a quick chat.

It was not my idea to apply my glasses to Coffee’s face. However, she does look fetching (pun intended.) Russ and I have had alot of conversations about my glasses this week.

We started a new St. Patrick’s tradition this year, we had pub night in our own house. It was alot of fun. I love an excuse to make nachos.

Morgan got his proof sheet back from his grad photos. I also found this picture of my Dad while working on a project. I am very fascinated by genetics. I find it comforting to see traits being passed down. I put these side by side to see what I could see. I think there is a similarity.

I came across this cowboy rabbit picture earlier this year. Its so cute. We have a room in our house named after a rabbit, thats a bit of a long story, but it meant this picture had to come home with me. Our travels have led us to find a couple others. While in Regina this week I found the crocheted dancing rabbit wearing Bar MW yellow. I brought it home. Her name is Laci.

Bingo’s death has been a hard pill to swallow but we are doing okay, mostly, some of us. Our house is alot quieter. I am not sure I realized what a big presence Bingo dog had. There is way less fighting now, really almost none and honestly thats nice. However I think we all believe her crazy passionate cowdog spirit was worth the noise. Anyways…..we have been comforted this week. A condolence card in the mail, a homemade key fob, and what I call “condolence cookies” have all come our way. People have been so kind with so many words of understanding and concern for us. It seems pet loss is something many of us really understand deeply.

Saturday morning Russell’s whole life plan got turned upside down when a calf was discovered in the calving herd. That first calf arrived about three weeks early. Everything about this was tricky except for the fact that the calf was strong and therefore it made it. When Russ and I went back to check on it a few hours after birth Russ thought he spotted it from a distance, then corrected himself, “that calf is a mineral tub.” A few seconds later, “that mineral tub is moving!”, we had in fact not found the calf we were looking for, we had found a second one. Here it is.

We kept looking for our cow “Pray” and her calf and we found them. Pray was agitated, as she had been when first discovered, there was not much we could do for that calf on the open prairie, its a great thing that it was strong. Why do calves come three weeks early you ask? Because of a rogue bull that must have slipped into our cow pasture for a little fun. We had no idea of this visitor and to expect early calves. We are hoping this doesn’t continue. Just how busy was that bull? It remains to be seen but there were no further calves born today.

Russ spent the rest of yesterday moving snow out of the calving yard so that it could be usable for the herd, hauling a load of bedding and a load of feed and cleaning off the dugout. As a result he missed an old friends’ funeral. As the day wound down a little help from our neighbor Ty allowed us to get the herd gathered up and moved across the road into the pasture around the calving yard. My job was to park sideways across the road and then be a presence in the ditch. I was so relieved when that first cow out the gate didn’t think the best plan was to challenge me and head west to home. She saw the open gate across the road and led the way. Thank you cow!

The job is completed.

I took this next picture for my sister who I was texting with when the guys came in for supper tonight. You might notice that Morgan has had a haircut since the last counter picture. Also, Russ looks relaxed and happy. I believe this is in part because he and Morgan had a pretty outrageously fun time working together today. I was part of it for a while. These two are really something. The bigger picture is that last week Russ got rammed into the end of a gate that our horse “Mickey” abruptly forced his way through. With his hood up and peripheral vision blocked Russ didn’t see it coming. He has been in terrible pain all week, with medicine giving little relief. He finally went to the doctor. Xrays revealed no obvious concerns, he had become convinced he had a broken rib, but apparently not. You would never guess there is anything amiss in this photo. Its the healing power of humor.

Once calving starts in earnest it can be a real whirlwind around here. I have some serious goals around being organized and ready for that. There is a fair bit to do. Hopefully we end up getting a few more weeks before its go time.

K World – Part 2 of “Road to the Horse.”

This is the next part of the story I wrote in the airport a few weeks ago. Re-reading it I realized I don’t usually get to use my favorite letter so many times in one bit of writing. So here we are…..Kathy Kyle and her kiddo in Kentucky, fighting a Keurig and photographing Ken at the Kentucky Horse Park. The last half of the blog is an update on the current scene at the Bar MW Ranch.

Our travels went smoothly, we spent enough time in Calgary to get through US customs with no stress and then off to Atlanta where we had a few hours. Late in the evening we landed in Lexington, Kentucky home of the Kentucky Horse Park. We left the baggage claim with both our suitcases (always a relief) and headed out into the warm but crisp Kentucky night air.

As we waited for our Lyft ride I took delight in seeing the tulips around us.

When we arrived at our Air Bnb just north of Lexington in the old and vibrant city of Georgetown we were feeling many things, lots of relief being top of the list, we had made it through the many steps that this day required and we were still upright and walking. We found ourselves in a really cool Air Bnb, a historic hotel had been renewed into a 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom space with high ceilings, dark beautiful wood floors and a totally modern kitchen. We were poised for some good rest.

We found 2 beer in the fridge, with an amusing name on the cans. We very much appreciated a cold drink at the end of our long day.

The next morning had us figuring out how to work the Keurig for our am coffee, it was not straightforward. We learned that the traffic plan for the Kentucky Horse Park didn’t match the reality of a multitude of cars heading in at the same time, but the congestion we landed in on wasn’t nearly as bad as it could be our driver told us. We also learned how best to access the seats at the Alltech Arena so that we stepped over as few people as possible. This would be home for the next four days.

We were there a bit early and had a chance to start wandering through the booths. This is when a very cool set of moments happened. Earlier as Russell was hyping us up for this trip he said, “you gotta talk to Ken McNabb and ask him if he remembers getting bucked off a horse in 1996?” Ever the practical person I flipped back to him, “Russell that was almost 30 years ago, as if he is going to remember that!” Ever the hopeful person Russ informed me that it was the first time Ken had been bucked off in ten years, he might just remember it. I never imagined that the featured horse trainers would be mingling with the crowd but as we made our way around the arena there was Ken, at a booth his training business had set up, Morg insisted we stop and speak to Ken as Russ had asked us to. I shrunk back like a wallflower, feeling a bit foolish for bugging this man. Morgan handled it beautifully, “Hello, my name is Morgan Bayliss, I was sent here with a question, do you remember getting bucked off a horse at a clinic in Shiloh, Manitoba in 1996?” A split second passed, Ken replied, “Yes, Yes I do” and he went on to tell his version of the story. It turned out he was part of two tricky situations that weekend and he was bucked off twice. Russ had told us about that 2nd situation as well as the buck off that was thanks to his horse. Ken described his experience exactly as Russell had told us. It was pretty awesome. Morgan was happy to tell this mentor of Russell’s that the man who brought that horse to the 1996 clinic was his Dad and it was real nice to get the chance to meet Ken. It seemed to make Ken happy to have the chance to tell the two stories again and I got a definite sense that I could quit feeling bashful and take a picture.

Morgan looked at Ken through the telling of the story but glanced at me for the picture.

We headed on, we came across another booth of interest to Morgan, a social media presence, a fairly famous cowboy named “Booger Brown” had a booth and there was Booger himself. Morgan said, “hey I want to talk to this guy.” For pities sake, this kid was not bashful. We doubled back to him and Morg didn’t bug him, just introduced himself, told him he liked watching his show and I grabbed a picture. It made for an exciting start to our day.

Now….back to the present

Its Monday April 15th and calving season is definitely picking up steam. The biggest development is that we have had a change in staffing. I dropped Gina off at the Regina airport on Saturday at noon.

The last glimpse picture, up she goes to security. A non stop flight to Toronto awaited her.

We had really enjoyed her visit. So quickly we get used to how things used to be. For example I found myself worrying about the amount of noise in the house this morning, I didn’t want to wake up Gina. I had to think through who was actually in the house. I realized again that Gina was not here and everyone was already up. That everyone included Anja whom Jill and I picked up at the Regina airport later on Saturday. Anja is our friend from Switzerland who loves the life of a Canadian rancher and spends much of her vacation with us. It was a joy to see her again.

Anja back in the saddle within moments of getting to the ranch.

Anja took this picture of Pat, Jenn, Russ and I when I dropped her off at the pasture.

Anja had an angel at her side. This man was her seat mate into Toronto. He too was heading to Regina. There was enough time to change planes but not enough to get lost and still make it. Anja is challenged with English and she had to change terminals. This man deftly guided her where they needed to be. She was so very grateful.

Other friends, new and old are joining us in bits and pieces too. Carnduff had visiting theatre teachers from the Missoula Children’s Theatre company last week. Our friend Carol hosted them and brought them out Saturday to show them the ranching life. They liked it and checked cows with Russ and Morgan, on horseback, three times in the next 18 hours! I never got to meet them but I admire their spirit of adventure!

Jenn and Patrick were here helping Russ and Morgan while I was in Regina. Steve camped in the yard last night and is on the calving crew this morning. Kayla arrived at Grandma Shirley’s yesterday and joined the crew this morning. Each person brings their own charm. I am anticipating that lunch time will be very interesting today.

On the calving front……things are going fairly well. We had a pair of twins arriving backward on Friday night. Russ needed Dr. Marcel’s help and he got it. The calves are doing well and Russ was able to successfully adopt one onto the cow that lost her premature calf earlier in the week. The guys worked very hard while I was gone and then cooked for themselves, except that Jenn and Patrick sent out an incredible meal for them. I was so happy to hear that. The men here multi-task extremely well, calving, cooking as neccesary and hosting visitors. The love sure flows back to them too. I found a hundred dollars in the fridge this morning, with some handwriting I recognize! (Thank you!) Steve was up early and walked through the calving heifers this morning. He discovered two births had happened over night. Stevey Nicks and John Denver both calved this morning. Yesterday it was Joan Jett and Pat Benatar.

Saturday morning Taylor Swift had her calf. We are really enjoying the name theme for this years heifers. In the main herd Dr. Seuss calved, thats her second calf. It seems this cow is as fanciful as her namesake. She seems flighty, leaving her calf behind, maybe appearing to forget she had it. Enchant is often seen to have twins, because she is stepping in and looking out for Dr. Seuss’s baby. If you know Dr. Seuss’s story of Horton the Elephant it is a bit like that. Enchant is like Horton guarding that egg. Dr. Seuss the cow is like Maysie………..off having adventures, forgetting she is mothering. Anyways……….things are rolling here and we will see what today brings.

A few more pictures….I know some worry about my self care. I created some options in these last days. Gina and I left the ranch a day before we needed to, we picked up Jill in Regina and went all the way to Saskatoon where we visited family and friends before whizzing back to Regina on Saturday to get Jill to work and Gina on her plane. These moments mean alot to me.

These are the moments. Gina had not seen her Auntie Margie in a very long time.

We could have visited more in Regina while waiting for Anja’s flight but Jill and I are both introvert leaning people. When she was done work we went to a movie. It was great. Jill asked for a bathroom selfie after the movie. We look pretty good for 11pm at night!

Happy Monday!

Plans that Percolated

This first chunk of writing was done a couple weeks ago sitting in an airport.

About eight months ago there was some talk at our place about an ideal situation. This got started because both Morgan and our cousin Laurie have been fans of a televised competition called “Road to the Horse.” Russ said, “I would gladly pay the expenses for those two to drive to Kentucky and take that in.” I agreed with him but truth be told it seemed like something stirring among the men and I pretty much stayed out of it. Talk got a little more serious and it became clear that it would not be possible for Laurie to get away. Russ could not leave that close to calving season. Would Morgan just have to miss out on it? That most certainly would not be the end of the world. We don’t have to attend everything that interests us, in fact, of course, we can’t. However there were two details that kept us coming back to how to make this work. The first is that Morgan loves horse training.

A recent photo of Morgan working on one of four horses he is currently training.

This event was a chance to witness seasoned trainers apply their methods to never touched two year old horses. We felt this was not entertainment as much as an educational opportunity. We have spent precious little money on Morgan’s extra curricular interests thru the years. It felt like a good use of our resources to see if we could get him there. The second detail that really pulled at Russell’s heart strings is that 28 years ago he attended a horse training clinic led by a young trainer named Ken McNabb. That man was set to be one of the competitors at this years event. Russell so wanted Morgan to get to meet him and learn from him. So my little ‘ol brain started percolating.

What would it cost for Morgan and I to drive there and how much time would it take? We are not far from Minot, what would a flight from there cost? Those two inquiries led to figures I was not happy with, in terms of time and dollars. I tried one more thing. I checked out the Westjet site and found extremely reasonable ticket prices. I called Russ saying, “hey, can you believe this?” He said, “book it!” So it was that Morgan and I became official travel partners. I figured we would rent a car, I would drive Morgan to the facility and then return to our lodging where I would have four days to keep working on this book of ours. This screenshot of texts with Russ records the big moments.

When it came time to book tickets to the event, which I put off until January, 🫣 I checked with fear in my heart, we had plane tickets but no event tickets. I learned there were lots of good choices left. 🥵🤠 When I asked Morgan about where he wanted to sit he informed me that he really wanted me to attend with him. Huh. What was I to do? I am not that big into horses, and watching horses being trained sounded like something I could miss. On the other hand, how often does your teen say to you, “come with me Mom.” So, I agreed to attend and figured I would bring my laptop and try not to look too weird as I typed and others watched the events.

The days flew as they do and all of a sudden our trip was only days away. I was feeling pretty mixed about it. Russ and I have been away much more than usual as we went to his Farmers for Climate Solutions meetings three different times in recent months. I was not really excited about packing up and heading out one more time, especially to a very unfamiliar place. As much as I have travelled in the U.S. I had never been to Kentucky or Georgia. A Westjet schedule change after our tickets were purchased meant that we were to have an 8 hour layover in Atlanta. Was I up for this? I had to be. Last Tuesday after school Morgan and I headed to Regina in order to be there when our flight departed Wednesday morning at 5:30. We settled into seats I had spent a little extra money on to get extra leg room. With an open seat in our row we took off, feeling pretty darn comfortable, but moreso, blessed. Good-bye Saskatchewan! What started eight months earlier as some percolating ideas and hopes was now our reality, as real as the cups of coffee we held in the airport waiting lounge.

That is the end of chapter one of this story. There are several more chapters.

Today’s reality….

Calving has really started around here….

Yesterday morning the first heifer calved. It was Alanis Morisette, this morning Russ has reported that Rod Stewart calved. The crew found Bells and Dr. Seuss had calved on their last check last night. Unfortunately Apples delivered a stillborn preemie too. Morgan, Gina and Russ have just headed out to saddle up for the first check of the morning. Morgan will be at school in two hours, on time.

Russ needed to bring our biscuit heifers and grassers home yesterday. He somehow got me on a horse and I, Kathy Kyle, the usual cook and coffee lady, trailed cows for the first time in my whole life. It was a beautiful evening and I have to admit it was fun. Morgan let me ride his faithful pal “Warhorse”and it felt pretty easy. Russ was pretty excited and took lots of videos. Here is one. It has beautiful scenery.

As Russ is fond of declaring loudly, “we’re calving now!”

For the foreseeable future this ranch crew is staying home and travelers are coming to us!

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!

Calving 2023 – 12 days in

As I sit to write this it’s shortly after 11am on April 20th, we are about 36 hours into a winter weather event, not exactly a blizzard but wet snow combined with wind has made conditions trying. An hour ago our power went out. This house is very quiet.

We are doing well. Having power for those first 36 hours meant some things were normal and options were plenty for warmth for humans and calves. As I vacuumed yesterday afternoon I found myself feeling so blessed. I have never felt getting to vacuum was a blessing before. I was mentally and physically preparing for a power outage, when it didn’t happen yesterday and I could clean I was feeling pretty lucky. I guess perspective is everything!

There is lots to say. I have been writing blogs constantly in my head, but finding no time to actually do the recording of them. Pictures tell the tale again in this blog.

Sunday morning before church I helped Russ and Anja when a delivery of twins and a calf needing to be pulled happened within minutes of each other. The pulled calf was huge and had weak ankles so Russ and Anja splinted the calf.

Jill came home on Sunday after work and joined Russ and Anja with Monday’s work. It was awesome to have her back.

I can’t remember why this calf was on the lawn and needing a bottle. After a while alot of things blur together.

Jill did saddle work, venturing beyond her usual calving roles. I think she really enjoyed it.

This is one of many moments where there has been exciting, dramatic and sometimes disgusting times when the creatures and the humans have had to share the cab.

Monday evening we were treated to a delicious meal in a calm and beautiful setting when the Sedors had us over. Here Anja shares pictures with Sue-lynn.

At 2:30am Tuesday morning Morgan was dropped off by his buddy’s Dad, Lee Stanley. Having landed safely in Regina after their big huge adventure, Lee brought him the last leg, we truly appreciated this. I got up, chatted with Morg in the porch, he unlaced his shoes and said to me, “I have not taken these off since I put them on in Rome 26 hours ago.” Then he gently placed them off to the side. He carried his suitcase downstairs. I grabbed my phone to take this picture. The shoes that had tread all over very distant and special places were back in their natural habitat. My boy was home. My heart felt good.

Tuesday we had an extra and familiar face on the crew. Our old friend Maja was back for a day. She came to Saskatchewan with a program like Anja’s a few years ago. She has returned and is working on a nearby farm. She has spent many hours on the trail with us but this day was calving cows!

I went to town Tuesday with much on my mind and a lengthy grocery list. I feel very nervous about all the unknown factors of weather systems like we are in. That was definitely my truth as I headed in, with my first stop being to plan a funeral with a family, the funeral scheduled for after the storm has passed. My usual route to town includes a low level crossing, it is currently filled with rushing water and not safe to cross. I drew this close to get a record of it.

The detour I took to avoid the crossing gave me this glimpse of the swollen creek in our valley. Water is mighty and damaging but also so beautiful and promising.

Tuesday afternoon – Cowboy Morgan is back in the saddle. I love this picture Anja took of him.

This is the first morning of the storm (yesterday), the guys came in for morning coffee after finding the 7 calves born overnight were all being cared for ok by their Mom’s. Russ asked for breakfast food figuring it would maybe be hours before they were able to get back.

Anja got this good picture of Ron hard at work. Ron spent many hours in the tractor getting hay and straw to strategic places.

In the late morning, as Russ predicted, things got hectic and the crew was stretched. On one trip through the yard as cow calf pairs were being brought in and calving cows were being brought home the call came requesting coffee to go. Russ asked for personalized lids.

Lunch eventually happened. Russ loves hot biscuits and we used our cell phones to coordinate when those biscuits went in the oven for ideal serving temp. How would we have fared when there were no cell phones?

Late in the day yesterday I took the truck and trailer up to the pasture so that the cowboys working up there could trailer home, it was days end. I want to paint a word picture for you. I nervously drove the truck down muddy roads, 40 km/hr max speed, once I turned into the pasture the trail was quite obvious and I made my way to the chute. I could see a few cowboys huddled against the wind holding onto their horses. I wanted to take a picture but there are times that its just not appropriate. As I hopped out I could hear Morgan say, “we will do three and two”, I said, “how can I help?” “Hold the trailer door Mom”, was the reply. That was easier said than done as the wind grabbing that wide door meant I was holding back alot of force. I did it. It was during these moments that an unexpected thing happened. As Morgan began loading the three horses into the front compartment David Powell appeared with a horse in hand, perhaps it was Russell’s or Anja’s. ( They were at home dealing with sick calves and stressed cows.) I had been told David was coming out after work but not staying for supper, I didn’t realize he would stay so late though, and through the wind and the wet sleet blowing at us his very cheerful face emerged with a hearty, “hello Kathy!” I couldn’t believe the cheer amid the trying, somewhat tense conditions. Now, he had not been at it all day like the rest of the crew, but was likely up at 5 to get his regular work done so he could come out. This cameraderie, support and willingness to suffer, qualities that Laurie, Anja and David all show in spades, give us added courage and we keep going.

The bad weather is not expected to move on until tomorrow at this time. We are hopeful to have power restored before the end of the day. I am now sitting at Grandma Shirley’s kitchen table (she has power), I am poised to work on the funeral service for Saturday. There are plenty more pictures I want to share. These calving days are full of stories.

Feeling Grateful

I don’t know where to begin.

Its calving season and we have known some serious blessings. I write that truth while very aware that many near to us are living with some major struggle. As I think about that I try and absorb that this is a time to breathe deep of what is good, we have had our struggle days too, in the last months and years, but if I don’t appreciate what these days hold I will not be ready when the struggle days come around again.

Would you like to do a brief tour of the last couple weeks with me, with some favorite pictures as the guide?

Before all the shenanigans of calving season began Coffee agreed to pose for this picture. “I am ready family” she said, in not so many words.

Before Easter break began Morgan and Russ played in the father-son basketball game at Carnduff school. There were definite moments like this where they were aware of and enjoying each other on the court. It meant a fun night out. Russ was thrilled to be able to say “I got a goal!” He sunk a basket! It was a nail biter in overtime, the boys won by 3 points.

Good Friday had Morgan and I on the road to Arcola for a 5:30 service that I led. It was a good experience with the people there. We then continued to Regina.

At 10:45pm I met a plane from Toronto, carrying a passenger from Switzerland, a woman coming back to the ranch with me. Her name is Anja. We began to get acquainted as we waited in line for her lost luggage. I was back at the airport a few hours later with Morgan. He was off with a school group to visit Paris, Monaco and Italy.

As Anja and I got rolling in Regina on Saturday morning news came from the ranch that calving had begun. Ian Fleming was the first and a first calf heifer. All the first calf heifers this year are named after authors,we call Ian Fleming’s offspring, “calf, James calf”, (Ian Fleming is the author of the James Bond series.) Anja braved Costco with me on the Saturday of Easter weekend. Her stellar strength was evident already!! We had an easy trip back to the ranch except Anja could not believe the distance we had to cover to get home from Regina.

Easter morning dawned with no kids in the house!!!!! I tried a new recipe, caramel rolls, a contribution for our potluck at church. They turned out great!!

Gina sent this selfie outside of her job at Medieval Times in Toronto. She had to work and had already dug into Easter treats I sent her earlier in the week, so she lost track that it was Easter!

Meanwhile, Morgan had made it to Paris. I was touched by this picture shared by one of the chaperones. The fellow in the black t shirt and brown cap is my son, on the streets of Paris far far away from me.

Easter afternoon put us to the test. I thought I was ready to go into town for Easter supper at Grandma Shirley’s but got an S.0.S. call from the pasture. It was the second day of calving and I was already dealing with unexpected laundry issues . I loved having that wee creature on my lap though.

A blessing: much water on the prairie.

Anja’s first day and she was quickly dumped into the intensity of calving life. She was joyful through it all.

When the nest is empty the jeep isn’t, not with Coffee, Maddie and Bingo needing a lift. They definitely help to cover the absences.

It was my job to check and pen up the first calf heifers for the night. Then I was free to get to Shirley’s where Shirley and her family and Russell’s sister Tammy were waiting on us. That is the hiefer “Maya Angelou” in the center of the picture.

Anja and Russell arrived, Russ grabbed the clean shirt I had brought him and changed on the street. We could enjoy our Easter supper. Work was done for the day.

After supper Grandma Shirley came out to the truck to see her favorite dog.

Meanwhile……..Jill was gathered with our Kyle and Garvie family. She mentioned the invite to me and I gave her my blessing to go north instead of south for Easter. I figured with all the jet lag and lack of sleep at our place combined with calving it was going to be a bit of “shitshow” here. I figured she would do well to go meet up with our people in Saskatoon. I was right. She sent this picture, sharing a moment from a game. Thats Jill 2nd from left.

Back in Carnduff Russ and Anja were off. Having arrived for Easter supper with two saddled horses in the trailer, an irritable cow, a calf in the front seat and Knightwing, they had much settling to do once back to the ranch.

Morgan was having some fine moments. Here he is at the Louvre in Paris.

Thats Cowboy Morgan nearing the Eiffel Tower.

Some tough moments on Tuesday happened when we decided to ask the vet to come and do a c section delivery on our cow Belle. She had gone down in a wet spot, we couldn’t get her to dry ground after two days and we couldn’t make her comfortable. We needed to relieve her of her suffering, caused by rapid onset of old age, it seemed. The delivery was exciting. Marcel found not one calf but two and both looked close to being viable. They came home for care. Anja joined me and we worked to get our calves established.

A day that held hours of work, drying, rubbing, clearing mouths of fluids, ultimately ended up in sadness. We lost the smallest calf at noon and the bigger one by midnight. It was very traumatic in the sense that we were forced to reckon with the question, “when do I give up?” That is a haunting question that I have had to ponder before in a very difficult time. As best we can understand it seems their stomachs were underdeveloped. It was the addition of food that hastened their deaths.

Anja’s strong work ethic, skill, humor and desire to learn have meant she has made a terrific difference on our ranch in the first week. Here she is putting a calf up to suck. She called this calf “Sunset.

Deb, my longest time friend in the world came to visit on Tuesday and we made lots of memories, it was quite a week to share with her. On Thursday we made buns for Grandma Shirley’s birthday supper. They were just about to come out of the oven when the crew was done their lunch break. They decided to stay in the house for five extra minutes and have an extra snack. Our crew was enriched this week by Grandma Shirley’s granddaughter Kayla. She was on her school break, visiting her Gram but getting lots of hours in the saddle too. She is a natural and was a joy to have around. That is her on the left.

Kayla at days end, having been a big help.

Friday we were all in town in the afternoon for Shirley’s birthday tea. Her daughter Colleen, seen here with her, had arranged for beautiful decorations and delicious cake. We had a good party, extra tables were put up when people kept arriving. It was great!

Our Shirley, looking wonderful. She gave a heartwarming speech where she acknowledged that 90 just kindv’e snuck up on her.

Russ and Anja made it to the tea for Shirley but missed the supper when during their late afternoon check they found this calf almost dead, it had crawled through a fence and was lying in a puddle, cold, hungry and separated from its mother. Anja took on the duties of head nurse. The calf then spent the night in the dog room and by morning was pretty zesty. I woke to the sound of Russ walking it around the porch.

Meanwhile…..in Florence, Italy – Morgan had a ride on a Ferris Wheel. The woman in the middle is the school leader of the trip. I admire her so much for taking on the challenge of making this opportunity happen for the kids.

It was a big week. It was a good week. It was also a hard week. We have much to be thankful for.

Saturday Sun and other bits

Good morning, it’s bright and sunny here in Carnduff and the temperature is supposed to rise above 0 today. We sure hope so. I hope wherever you are there is something bright for you to look at or think about.

This picture brightened my morning, Gina sent it with the caption that she is eating lunch with Dad’s favorite horse. She loves her job at Medieval Times.

Yesterday morning began with the news that our cow named Daffodil had lost a set of premature twins. This meant Russ brought Daffodil home where he can milk her. He does this with the hope of keeping her milk supply flowing, should we later have an orphan calf we have a Mom ready to adopt it onto. Daffodil has been sweet to Russ, despite her rough day yesterday.

A short video to give a glimpse of part of Russell’s work with Daffodil yesterday.

I was just leaving town yesterday when a call came from Russ to pick up Oxytocin at the vet. (This would help Daffodil release her milk). Later Russ commented, “I am milking a cow, I guess we can say calving season has begun.” To that I add, once I am making trips to the vet and finding containers to freeze colostrum and milk it’s definitely calving season. Are we ready? Well, we didn’t have oxytocin on hand, so maybe not. We have almost watched all 9 seasons of Seinfeld so that hopefully means personally we are almost recharged.

A Morgan anecdote for you this morning…..Morgan has noticed and felt slightly chagrined by my hobby, (he calls it an addiction) with Mixbook and Shutterfly, websites that allows me to create photo books and many many other personalized household items. His main concern is that I have taken to personalizing everything possible. We now have over 20 dinner plates personalized with photos and words on them. I have created and ordered in bulk our own sympathy, graduation and thank you cards, personalized with photos and our own sentiments. I have my own personalized notepads and sticky notes. We make our own calendars, and I have to say I adore making them and having them. I love the thought of creating personalized gifts and I do it alot. Morgan is almost at his limit. At the same time that I am creating away he is engaging in his love of online shopping. The result of this is that he sends me links all the time, directing me to websites where I can find the latest thing he needs in the way of tack for his work on and with horses. I often resist looking at it closely, perhaps overwhelmed by what I do not understand. Last week Russ started chuckling to himself. He said, “I shouldn’t tell you this, but, Morgan figures he has come up with a genius plan to get you to buy the tack he wants.” “Uh huh”, I said. He went on, “either he needs to get Shutterfly to start selling tack or he needs to find a way that you can put pictures on and personalize tack, then he figures you will be all in.” I laughed. I find Morgan’s humor about me endearing, as much as it can be edgy at times. (Did you read about him wanting to get amputation for my leg last week?) I think his comments say to me, “I may be rushing around here, busy, thinking about ranching, Jordanna, my truck, my horses, trying to rope you, wondering what there is to eat, but Mom I see you, I see what you love and what you avoid, and I like you.” So I was glad that Russ shared Morgan’s wry observation with me. Having told me about it I was in the right space to understand the comments Russell made when he opened up a package we picked up in Sherwood this week. I ordered Russ a personalized barber cape. It was a practical but fun thing to include for his birthday. For twenty years I have been cutting Russell’s hair with, I think, the same plastic wrinkly cape that came with our first clipper set. It is now almost crispy and held on during a haircut with a clothespin. As Russ opened the package and caught a glimpse of himself on horseback on this filmy fabric the first thing he said was, “oh Morgan is going to lo-ooove this!” We laughed. It turned out beautifully. Here it is….

It says Kathy’s Kitchen -Cowboy Cuisine- -Cowboy Care- -Cowboy Cuts-

And below….a Gina picture to end the post as it began…..Gina has been enjoying what Toronto has to offer. This mechanical bull and she have had a few showdowns over the weeks. Gina sent this picture yesterday and told us she was complimented by a 50 year old lady for her great dismounts every time she came off.

For the record….both Gina and Morgan gave their permission for the bits shared about them today.

And…..Have a great weekend!

Day 57 – Calving Season 2022 – The Tenderlands – Chapter 3 – Longings

We got going a bit early today in order to be ready for the arrival of Harold. He is the trucker we use to take large herds to summer pasture and our calves to the auction mart. The first step happened when Russ and Morgan brought the group in we had put through the chute on Friday. We separated the cows and the calves and then Ron, Russ and Morg worked with Harold and got the truck loaded.

We did this with rain falling, as it had been thru the night. It was a muddy setting for our work.

At this point the accumulating moisture is still a blessing for us but has become a very large problem for grain farmers who are having trouble getting seed into the ground.

While the guys were loading the truck I bottle fed our calf, “Hadley”, a twin whose Mama couldn’t provide for both babies. Baby Hadley has a big story. When it was clear that he needed a different Mom Russ tried to adopt him onto our cow named “Hadley”, it just didn’t work and bottle feeding became a neccesity. Our guests the Fentons brought the calf his first bottle. Izzy and the calf bonded and for the remainder of the visit this was Izzy’s calf and it was given the name “Hadley Fenton” after Izzy’s great Grandpa. When Russ tried to feed Hadley after Izzy left he could hardly convince it to eat, Russ was not his Mom, “where is Izzy?” was the vibe this calf was giving off. By the time I showed up in its pen this morning that young calf had already known alot of different mothering action. We did well together. Hopefully he will get a permanent Cow Mom pretty soon.

Anyways…..Russ and Morgan checked the calving herd and then we got ready to go to church. I didn’t want to go. I am so tired. I wanted to stay in bed and drink coffee and roam the internet. Russell weighed in. With several Sundays ahead where attendance is iffy, he thought we should grab the chance to get there today. Off we went. Like alot of things, it was good to be there once we were there.

Having said that as things unfolded Russ felt he needed to make an apology to Susan our minister. After going full tilt for a long time and not sleeping very well the last few nights, Russ arrived at church not prepared for a warm spot to sit still for a bit and he fell asleep, repeatedly. He informed us at the end of church that he had bizarre dreams in those moments he was dozing. At one point he had been dreaming that he was sorting cows with women on horseback in Jesus’ tomb and Jesus and the angels were sitting on the ark of the covenant looking on. Its actually quite the scene to visualize. It was Morgan who had nudged Russ to wake him up at the point where this dream was getting going. He later apologized to Russ for interrupting such an interesting dream. And Russell apologized to Susan for sleeping in church. She was as gracious as ever, understanding his reality.

When Russell told me about this dream it seemed to me that there was something essential in it. I saw that maybe it had a bit in common with messaging that happened last Sunday. If you want to analyze this with me, read on…..

In Russell’s dream perhaps, and I really mean perhaps…..there is a distinct chance I am making a mountain out of a molehill…..but….in that dream was there a longing revealed? Could it be a longing to know that our daily life has holy dimensions? Like the assurance that we are living our days in the presence of God. (Why else would we sort cows in a tomb? That space where Gods power very famously prevailed.) Like the assurance that Jesus sees us doing the things that are hard and scary and loves us through it. (Why else would Jesus have stood witness to all that sorting action?) Like the chance to glimpse the possibility that our lives can be enfolded in Jesus’ story (thats what I see when action from 2 vastly different cultures and time periods gets merged together.) It was a thought provoking dream you must admit.

What happened last week is this…… Russ sent me a picture of Morgan working in our neighbors cattle handling chute. It was from the back. It struck me how much Morgan’s posture was like my Dads and that it indeed could have been my Dad in the picture.

I replied, “that could be my Dad.” Immediately Russ messaged me back, “That would have been cool 2 work with Wayne” In those few short words all kinds of longings were released and reflected. My longing that my Dad could be a part of what my life holds. Russell’s longing to know my Dad as a healthy man. Our enduring ache to have people alongside us that just can’t be. It was all contained in those few lines of text. Again I feel like I am making a mountain out of a molehill, us analytical people are kind’ve famous for this, but there is something there, there just is. There is definitely longing in my part of this story.

I am currently reading a book called, “The Book of Longings” by Sue Monk Kidd. Perhaps thats why longings are on my mind. What do we do with our longings? Especially knowing that many of them just cannot be met. It strikes me that one thing we can do, no matter what, is listen to them. Having listened to them perhaps something becomes more clear, maybe not. By listening though, we have honored our own hearts and that is important.

Day 57 of calving season took me to a very muddy corral, a quiet barn, a sanctuary, a restaurant and my own tenderlands. That has all been good, but the kitchen is where my attention is now needed. I find myself longing for that TV character from the 60s, Samantha from Bewitched, who could wiggle her nose and make magic happen.

I need some magic in the kitchen tonight.

Day 43 – Calving Season 2022 – Stealing a Coffee Break

I am giving myself 25 minutes to create this blog. What gets done gets done and then I hit publish.

Here at the ranch we are doing what we always do at this point in May and thats put herds of cows and calves through the working chute. This allows us to give vitamins, vaccines, tag the calves, replace lost tags on the cows and castrate the bull calves. Its a big chunk of work and it takes a crew. I should be out there but I am not because Dawson was able to come today and do my job. That is a lifesaver today in particular, I have a funeral to conduct tomorrow, a graduation to attend later today and tags to make. Not to mention feeding this crew. You might think, “why are you writing a blog?” I just have to. I have the fever to. But there is a time limit set.

Okay….maybe I have the fever because last night a friend we had not seen in a long time came for tea. As she stepped in the door she said, “I came because I just want to encourage you.” How interesting we humans are, how quickly old tapes and things rise to the surface, because you know what rose up in me when I heard that? I caught myself thinking, “oh great, someone is here to tell me what I need to do better at.” That wasn’t at all what our friend was here to share. However, I have had impacting experiences being told things that start with the words, “I just want to encourage you…….”, followed by some message to do things differently, worry less, have more faith, exercise more, …..some message that essentially said, “you are not enough.” But that is not what I heard last night, last night I heard, “your blog makes a difference, I want to encourage you to keep it up” and there was a bit more than that. But you get the drift. So, fuelled up I am here to share about this day.

There is so much stirring within.

I am proud of our crew. We had Morgan’s friend Griff with us yesterday and we got 80 pairs handled at the chute. I was not needed hands on, we had such great help, so I was able to cook and make tags and do the essentials in the house.

I am proud of Gina. More about that in the pictures.

I am sad. The details of this past week have stirred grief.

I am angry. I am angry at Covid. Tomorrow I do the first funeral I have had to do for a person who died of Covid. Two of my sisters were diagnosed with it this week. I saw them last weekend. So we have been wearing masks and testing daily. I believe I missed it this time.

I am hyper. I made the best pot of coffee this morning. It was nuclear fuel in my body. Russ just called me to tell me a story from the chute. We had a cow that needed to be chased down, details elude me. Anyways, the story was a bit epic, a should to shoulder race which Russ won and with great delight he told me, “when I looked at her tag Kathy, you know who she was?!? Streak! Kathy, I outran the streak!!!” I was suitably impressed! We agreed that coffee had weaved magic in us.

Some pictures to share!

I stepped out the door this morning to see a herd of cows and calves being moved through the yard. This still amuses me. I ran back to get my camera. Notice the mud encased Expedition. There is unreal puddle action on our roads.

I made some cheese and bacon roll-ups for a snack after the cows and calves were sorted from each other. It amused me to see how dirty Morgan’s hands were as he ate. I see this as a personal strength not weakness in Morgan. We do encourage handwashing, but, when it isn’t possible….well…….dirty hands are part of a working life and he is not too needful of perfection.

This is me and my kids during coffee break this morning. I am pointing to my shirt because it says, “Gina’s Mom”…it was a gift about 10 years ago. Gina graduates later today, we will be able to watch via a livestream at the Connelly’s. However it makes me sad to miss it. Really sad. We didn’t get to share in a ceremony for her high school grad in 2020. Its hard to miss this too. But we couldn’t be in Victoria two weekends in a row and the show weekend was more important. So……she is on our minds. And….we gotta get our work done so we can get to the livestream on time.

There was an awards ceremony yesterday. Gina’s stage combat mentor presented her with this award on behalf of the college. His words and manner touched her so much and we were so thrilled for her. The fine print says, “awarded to a student who has shown outstanding achievement in Musical Theatre.”

The college released this photo on instagram yesterday. This was an amazing number from Shrek where Gina tap danced with 12 rats. This was the number that brought me to tears. Why? Gina was having so much fun.

Jill in the foreground making a cow replacement tag, Laurie in the back. Part of the team this morning.

Not great team pictures but a little glimpse of the scene at the ranch today.

Calving is perking along, a pretty normal set of days and events are the reality right now. This is good timing. I hope your weekend is going the way you need it to. Blessings to you.