Tag Archives: stories

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.

Courage

A few days ago I conducted a funeral. That meant looking at old files for inspiration and liturgy I might find helpful. I got re-reading a sermon contained in one of those files. I loved what it contained. There was little snippets of story, a sense of world history, and ultimately a few lessons I could use. I thought maybe a few others would like to read it and asked the families permission to share it here on the blog. Its not my best writing because it is not meant to be read but presented. That means that things like vocal speed and tone would vary at certain points to get the words across as well as possible. That doesn’t convey in the written speech. The stories are here though and I hope you enjoy hearing about Bridie and her courage as much as I did.

Here is a wee summary of the person being celebrated here. Bridie Sawyer was a resident of Carnduff who lived to the age of 101 years. She died just over a year ago. She was born in Ireland and came to Canada as a war-bride. She had two children and remained in the Carnduff area for the remainer of her days. Last week we watched one of her great grandaughters graduate from high school here in Carnduff.

Here is the sermon:

There are many remarkable stories within Bridie’s life, the one I heard that touched me greatly was her decision to marry Mervyn after very little time available to spend together, and move to Canada in the aftermath of the war.   If I had to put one word to that it would be courage.  I have wondered if perhaps she was naïve, but she was 24 when these decisions were made, having already moved from her home in Ireland at age 17 to train for and experience several years of war time nursing in Edinburgh, she had been exposed to the realities of life, so I think it is safe to say, she had courage.  Was it a bus or a train that first removed her from all that she knew?  I have a mental picture of her petite 25 year old self, eyes sparkling, bag in hand, well-dressed, alone, making that momentous first step up onto a bus or train.  What was stirring in her heart?

Hopes and dreams and love likely pushed Bridie forward up those steps, but surely none of that would have been possible without the presence of her courage.

As I thought about Bridie’s story it struck me that she acted like she knew that what she had within her was greater than the challenges she would have to face.   Having reached the age of 101, the matriarch of four generations of family who stirred love and pride in her, with a nimble mind that defied stereotypes of old age, having travelled many places, well, it would seem she was right.

What did she have within her?

One of the first things said about Bridie when we met to discuss the service was that she was “a fiery little Irishmen and she never lost it.”  What did Bridie have within her?  Genetics.  How she was made and the culture which formed her.  So words like fiery, stubborn, bossy, are sometimes used to describe her.  These qualities can sometimes rub the wrong way but they also bring with them a certain power to tackle hard things.  The genetic code in her and however her culture shaped her informed very clearly what Bridie brought to the world and to the challenges before her.

Bridie had faith.  Raised in a Catholic home and clearly maintaining that identity for most of the years of her life she was exposed to many religious teachings.  In Ireland was Bridie exposed to Scripture in a way that fuelled her courage?  Did any of these teachings come to mind as she faced challenging work in Edinburgh?   Were there words that swam in the back of her mind as she stepped onto the boat that would carry her across the ocean?

Words like these from the earliest part of the Bible….

Deuteronomy 31:8 “And the Lord, He is the one who goes before you. He will be with you, He will not leave you nor forsake you; do not fear nor be dismayed.”

Or from the prophet Isaiah at Chapter 41:10

Isaiah 41:10 “Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.”

Psalms 27:1-3

 The Lord is my light and my salvation—
    whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the stronghold of my life—
    of whom shall I be afraid?

2 When the wicked advance against me
    to devour[a] me,
it is my enemies and my foes
    who will stumble and fall.
3 Though an army besiege me,
    my heart will not fear;
though war break out against me,
    even then I will be confident.

Psalms 46:1-3 God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, even though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea; though its waters roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with its swelling.

Zephaniah 3:16-17 In that day it shall be said to Jerusalem: “Do not fear; Zion, let not your hands be weak. The Lord your God in your midst, the Mighty One, will save; He will rejoice over you with gladness, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing.”

John 14:27 “Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.”

We recently had an excellent sermon offered here at the church, I benefitted from hearing our minister Susan name the fact that statements like “have faith not fear” are not helpful, kind’ve trite and just really not enough.  To combat that she offered a quick trip through key Scriptures that spanned the entirety of the Bible, it was clear that the reason we can forge ahead without fear dominating us is because of the way God is, promising to be with us, you get the feeling from hearing the span of Scripture that God is not interested in isolation and distance, but in sharing strength through being present with us humans.  Its mysterious, hard to quantify and perhaps easily dismissed, but then you hear stories like Bridie’s, where something is stirring in her heart, maybe simply the back of her mind, and it seems like what was stirring was, “go on, you can do this, I am here.”

So Bridie had genetics and faith messages stirring within her.  What else?

I am wondering about the example set by her own Mom.  I know so little of her, obviously, but there are some facts, like the ability….strength….courage to raise eight children amid what ever 1920s Ireland held, I understand it was not easy.  Then there are some stories.  As a ranch wife myself I found it stunning and hilarious to hear the story of Bridie’s visit to Ireland when her Mom was 78 years old.  When Bridie arrived at the farm her Mom was walking down the road herding cows and knitting at the same time.  Surely one of the biggest truths of that moment is confidence.  Her Mom’s confidence in her abilities in the situation.  If this was the way Anne McBride tackled life when Bridie was young she surely had an example to fill her mind as she herself approached the moments that required confidence and courage.

Our days are not easy.  Inflation, grief, climate change, conflict near and far, pandemic recovery, more grief, and in the midst of all this rapidly rising incidences of anxiety and depression.  It kind’ve feels like a balance is tipping, like what is beyond us is becoming greater than what is within us.  I wonder if Bridie’s inner space has encouragement or hope to offer us.  How did what she had within translate for us?

The good news for sure is that many of you carry much of the same genetic code that fueled Bridie!  Her feisty, undefeatable Irish spirit, sometimes known in stubbornness is, I have been told, alive and well in family gathered here.  Her action oriented get down to work way of being is available through genetics and of course her example.  What do you feel Bridie passed on to you?  If you don’t share Bridie’s genetics, her friends, what is the gift within your genetics to help you tackle what is big before you?

With regards to faith I have no idea exactly what was consciously and subconsciously working its power in Bridie’s life experiences, however, it would seem the promised presence of God was hers to know.   It is there for us too.  One thing that the work of Jesus accomplished was to make clear that no one is outside the circle of God’s care and concern.  Noone.  Any who seek the assurance and power of God’s presence in their life can ask for it.  Seek and you will find.  It may be quiet.  It may be known in humble ways.  Love and compassion are usually part of the package.  It’s a real source of guidance and grounding in the chaotic life so common today.  It can be a comfort in the midst of grief.  There is no price or qualifications required.  Do not be afraid, for I am with you.

Bridie had examples of strength in her life.  Is it possible that moving forward, as we tackle what life holds, and seek to be filled within, that Bridie herself can be an example to us, fuelling our efforts.  Just like there was a story about Anne McBride that offered us a mental picture, there is a story about Bridie.   One day Colleen came home from work to find that Bridie had been over cleaning, as she often did.  Bridie was proud of herself.  She had managed to clean underneath the pool table.  The pool table which had been meticulously placed and leveled to make it even had been shifted around to get things really clean underneath.  How did Bridie, a tiny woman not exactly young at this point, move a table both bulky and heavy?  With strategy.  By sitting with her back to the wall, and pushing on the legs of that table until she moved them as far as she needed to.  She saw the challenge, she knew her limits and her strengths, she understood some tricks and she rose to the challenge.  As we face the hurdle ahead, whether its grief or other things, we would do well to follow Bridie’s example, assess the challenge, estimate our limits, press into our strengths, put a few tricks into action, and act. 

“What she had within her was greater than the challenges she would have to face.”

I have highlighted the three obvious things within her that came to mind having heard only a part of the story of Bridie Sawyer’s life.  Of course, there is much much more.  The joy of the coming hours and days might be in reflecting on and sharing and recording your own thoughts and stories that reflect who Bridie was and what she had within her.  May that give you peace, broaden your understanding of her and yourself, and remind you of God’s presence.  Amen 

The Week We Have Known

Its been a week since I was free to do any blogging. It has been an unusually intense week, we took many pictures over the days and invite you to glimpse a week in the life of a prairie ranch family in spring 2021.

Every day these two bond more and more, Coffee dog gives us all a lot of joy.
Jill ate her evening meals with us this week, her quarantine period was hard for all of us, we missed her, when she joined us for supper we moved Buster’s chair over to Jill’s table so she could have company.
Jill is sitting at my Nanny’s dining room table, Buster is sitting in my Dad’s old highchair, the table still has plant pot rings from my Nanny’s love of plants. I wonder what she would think of the leggy seedlings I have going here. That is not a dog accident behind Jill although it sure looks like one. Its a paper from a box of chocolates one of my sisters sent for Mother’s Day.
We had twins this week, lots of twins, four sets in two days. Russ likes to bring them home so we can keep a close eye on them and how they are bonding. Here is the action on Tuesday, unloading one of the twins.
Things can get pretty tight in the womb, especially with twins, leaving joints without proper opportunity to strengthen. One of the twins needed us to splint her back ankles, here we are using duct tape over odd socks to create a quick and gentle “cast.”
Morgan carries the splinted calf to meet up with its Mom in the back of the shed.
Wednesday we put 65 cow calf pairs through the chute (vitamins, vaccines, tags, etc.) afterwards there was tons of regular work to do. I got the job of checking the cow herd for calving developments and troubles. I immediately found “Iron Man” with her brand new twins, the fourth set of the two days.
Thursday morning we got going early and thru the day got 60 more cow calf pairs through the chute. This moment is the very end of sorting the cows from the calves. Often the cows advance easily to their gate and we encourage that, we keep calves back then big groups of calves go to their gate, as you see here. Thats Ron, Russ and Morgan walking them down. Morgan was home to help us for three days. We really needed his help, hopefully he can catch up okay.
I thought this was a fun picture of Bingo quenching her thirst at one of the cow watering bowls.
Mostly I am including this picture because it is super cute of Russell. He is posing with this cow because she is named after his favourite kind of beer.
Mozza Stick got a replacement tag and hammed it up for the camera. Thats a radio frequency ID tag in her left ear, the number on it is linked to our ranch, no matter where she eventually goes in the food chain, that tag links her to our ranch, keeping us accountable to how we treat our animals and how healthy they are as they enter the food chain. It encourages us to feel proud of our animals.
One of the last big jobs of the day for Russ and Morgan, joined by Laurie after work, was to bring the cow calf pairs home that we would run through the chute the next day.
I was helping to turn them into the yard.
Our abundance of twins this season has meant we have extra calves to help keep alive. Here is Layne being bottle fed by Jill. We have two calves we are bottle feeding right now. The other is Bob. His Mom named Mary had twins whom we called Jesus and Bob, after a folk song about the brothers. Mary has Jesus but we have Bob. Bottle feeding is a hard job to do at the end of a long day, its not hard, but its just one more thing. We are glad Jill could do this. Its fortunate to have twins but its often a lot of work.
Late Thursday afternoon I had the job of checking the cow herd again. A pressing issue was finding Iron Man and her calves. After an hour I couldn’t find them and the grocery store was closing soon I thought. So I left the herd and landed in at the grocery store at 5:58, only to find out that they close at 7 (not 6) on Thursdays. Whew. I had a leisurely stroll around the store and found delicious ice cream on sale, milk, cream and a few other things. I headed back to the pasture. Are you with me on this, are you thinking, “Kathy didn’t really think that ice cream purchase through did she?” I prowled the area where Iron Man was most likely to be and eventually found her with only one calf. (Thats Iron Man and her one calf walking away from me right at the centre of the picture.) Well crumb. I called Russ, he sent me searching for the other one, I quite quickly found her. I called Russ again, I needed advice. I rose to the challenge he gave me and became the abductor. I caught the calf by the tail and wrestled her into the back of my Expedition. I was not sure how the trip back to Iron Man was going to go. You know, that calf surprised me, she just hunkered down right behind my seat and sat tight. I pulled up beside her Mom and helped her out and there was a reunion. I then went home with my soft ice cream. This morning my sister Margie named the twins, Ebony and Ivory. (The Ice cream survived🥴🍦🌞)
This was right after I had pulled the calf who would be named “Ivory” from the seat behind me and dropped her onto the ground, a reunion picture.
I could feel how glorious the evening sun was, I snapped this selfie to see how it looked, the sun looks good, I look tired.
Friday morning I was enlisted to help move 50 cow calf pairs from the pen they had spent the night in, into position to be sorted and readied to go through the chute. This truck push job was new for me, it was pretty easy. That pen is one Russ just built in the last year.
Jill finished quarantine and got to go to school Friday. When she got home she joined us at the chute for the last bit of work. We had handled a lot of animals without her, she picked up a tagger and got right down to work. How did we handle the work without her and Gina both? New skills were learned. Morgan became very good at giving needles this week (what he is doing here) and he learned to brand and is doing very well with that. I on the other hand, learned Jill’s job of castrating steer calves. Thats an interesting challenge. The atmosphere instantly became brighter when Jill arrived with her competence and willingness. Extra hands equal encouragement.
After feeding bottles to the baby calves I needed to change my clothes. It was about 7, “why not just put on a nightgown?” I thought. Then a phone call came, “can you run to the catch pen at the calving pasture and grab the calf pullers?” We had a heifer on the home quarter that needed help to calve. Russ grabbed this picture when I made the delivery. This is not Kathy Kyle at her best, but its my life.
The next morning that huge calf Russ had pulled was doing really well, its Mom, named “Endear” was doing well also.
Funny how some weeks seem to have themes………making another delivery in whatever I was wearing. This picture was this morning, in my robe, Russ called, he was administering some antibiotic to a calve with a bit of pneumonia and his syringe broke in the vehicle thanks to some dog action. He needed a fresh needle and syringe. The pic file says this was 9:30am, church started at 10. We were late, but we were all there. If you are against antibiotics in animals this anecdote might bother you. The way I see it, we give it this treatment and save its life. Were we attempting to produce antibiotic free beef we would see animals like this suffering needlessly and dying. This antibiotic will do its work and not linger in the animal. There are hundreds of days before this animal will become part of the food chain.
One more theme, animals getting their water. Here is Buster at the lunch table today.

This was a hard week. We are all exhausted. On Wednesday I calculated at the end of that one day that between five of us we had worked 63 hours, I was not including our lunch break, but did include a fifteen minute coffee in the afternoon. Why bother telling of that? I think it comes back to the title theme of this blog, about being seen. Its a hope that when I give that figure people will understand that us agriculture people truly do work hard for our living, that we love our animals and we are busting our butts trying to manage all the variables that equal quality of life for them. As I sit here tonight I can picture all the pairs we put through the chute this week, they are doing their thing, many of them already at their summer pastures, enjoying endless hours of prairie sunshine, hanging out as Mama and baby cows together. It seems okay.

In the midst of all this we have lots of great moments, Russ is fun and makes us laugh. Morgan is growing and changing and adding skills every day. We have had time with our cousins Laurie and Dawson who we appreciate so much. I made some food that I am proud of. We have had hard times, its not roses and sunshine around here all the time. We are worried sick about the lack of moisture, one of our dugouts went dry this week. We are getting impatient with each other. Russell and I had some hard words and I gave myself a time out at one point this week. Things don’t feel too carefree when work is front and centre from sun up til sun down. You start to miss feeling a bit carefree. But then the grace sweeps in. The warm things that start to thaw the ice between a man and a woman. The wisdom found in an awesome YouTube video (more Maya Angelou for me, listened to while checking cows) reminds of everything deeper and wider than the present moment. Cousins arrive and remind you that you are not alone. That softened ice cream tastes delicious and makes you feel brilliant for finding it. The beauty surrounding us, sights and sounds, touches your heart. My people come up against the dangers of big animals and stay safe, again and again. I am reminded that God has given me a purpose for my life. You find a way to give permission to yourself to be just human and struggling. The grace sweeps in and in a slower moment gratitude bubbles up.

And that is the week we have known. Is it too early to go to bed?