Countin': Better Late than Never

early stages of building!

I had this post all writen up to go up on Sunday, but right as I went to push the button to publish it, our internet went down for the night, but my there is better lat than never so here is my post called Countin'

This Sunday was spent in the presence of some pretty good friends, but as most things around here go, they were not here for a leisurely Sunday tea.  We have spent the day finishing off a shop that we started building last September, and by the time you read this we will hopefully be all done!

With all the complaining I have been doing about the weather lately I was reminded today of a poem that hangs in our house. Having so many great friends in life that are willing to come out and give us a hand I am not able to dwell on the negative that long
here is the poem for you:

Countin’ (by Phyllis Kozroski)
We often get caught up
In the  Countin’ that we do
WE count cows, an’ bales, an’ acres
Bills- too many, bucks- too few,
Should more often count our blessings
Calves that lived, an’ hay that grew
Memories  shared, good times together
Friends an’ neighbours, tried an’ true.

Mythbusting Mondays: We All Milk Cows

I remember the first day that I met my roommate’s boyfriend. He seen on my table an alarm clock that was a trophy I won from our 4-H show and sale, he asked me if I was a farm girl then when I replied yes he asked if that meant that I got up every morning bright and early to milk cows. This, like many other myths about agriculture is false.

First of all to begin with some basic cattle knowledge. There are two broad categories of cattle, beef and dairy. Although dairy cattle can be used for beef and beef cows due produce milk they do much better if they stick to their own thing. This would be like having a math teacher teach biology and a biology teacher teach math, they both could probably do ok, but if they taught their own subjects it would probably make a lot more sense.  

A holstein Dairy Cow from:
http://carolvaage.net/images/cow5.JPG

Dairy cattle are the ones that people are most familiar with (the white ones with the black spots) This particular breed of cattle is called Holstein and although there are many different breeds of dairy cattle that don’t look anything like this Holstein is the most popular dairy breed in Canada by far.

Beef cattle is where things get a little more complicated. I have talked frequently about my Angus cattle, but there are many different breeds raised (such as Charolais, Herford, Limousine, Semimetal etc.) Each breed has a different advantage when it comes to meat quality, taste, temperament, adaptively to climates, and other features.



many different breeds of beef cattle from:
http://www.usask.ca/beefresearch/herd72.jpg



So to answer the question, no, I do not get up and milk cows in the morning; neither do most of the cattle farmers in this area. But people who own dairies do. they have to get up at certain times and milk cows on a schedule. There was a day when most farms had a dairy cow on their place to produce a little milk for themselves, but now a day’s most people raise either beef or dairy.

A Cat Named Sandwich

I was out at my grandparents today, and while cleaning out the barn we discovered a new set of kittens. This new catch of fluffy little critters reminded me of a cat we used to have whose name was sandwich, and yes the cat was every bit as odd as the name suggests.

Sandwich and her friends

Sandwich was black with white socks and a little bit of white on her head, she started out named Sylvester, but one day my sister jokingly called her sandwich and the name stuck. Although our cats live in the barn that is right beside the bull pen, most of them choose to travel only from the barn to the granary (to catch a mouse or two) and back without socializing with the bulls. Sandwich on the other hand loved cattle. .



Sandwich playing with some heifers



In the winter time when we would bed all the bulls down with fresh straw sandwich would run right along with the bulls to jump and play in it, then would curl up next to one of them for a nap. The only problem with this was the fact that to show how much they liked her, the bulls would lick her, which was fine when it was nice out, but when it started to freeze it was not uncommon to come to the corals to see sandwich with her hair stuck up and froze in every direction.

I think that sandwich had came to the same conclusion as the rest on my family seems to have: although being with cattle is isn’t always the most glamorous, and it sometimes results in the odd injury or too, we can’t help but love this way of life!

Favorite Food Friday: Orange Smoothie

picture from:http://she-fit.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/718orange_smoothie.jpg

Ok, I realize I cheated; a smoothie is not technically a food, but considering  that we haven’t seen the sun around here for the last week, can you really blame me for wanting a little taste of summer? This recipe brings back memories of my family sitting on our deck on a hot summer night after coming in from moving irrigation pipes
Orange Smoothie:
½ can      frozen concentrate orange juice
1 cup       milk
½ cup      water
1tsp         vanilla
¼ cup      sugar
aprox. 16 ice cubes

Combine in a blender and blend until smooth
hope you enjoy my little taste of summer!

My favourite Animal

The other day at work we were having a conversation on our favourite animals (yes, we are very interesting people!) One person said a blue whale because of their size, another said some kind of bug that is bright pink and can produce cyanide. I said Cattle. And although I got made fun of for this answer animal I still think they are really amazing, and although they may not produce any poisons or be particularly large in size they do have some very cool traits, here are just a few:

-          They have 4 stomachs (not all like ours, there are actually 4 digestive compartments that help them to utilize food that they eat)

-           They have legs that bend in only 1 direction (meaning they could walk up stairs, but not down them)

-          A dairy cow can produce 200,000 glasses of milk in her lifetime

-          They can detect smells in the air from over 6 miles away!

-          According to my grandpa you can use them to predict if a rain storm is going to last or not (if the storm is going to be a long one cattle will continue to graze, if it is going to be a short one they will all huddle together)

-          They are basically giant machines that turn things like grass and hay that we can’t use into edible materials like milk and meat.

-          Dairy cows can produce up to 125 pounds of saliva a day!

-          They can see almost completely around them, they only have one small blind spot directly behind them

http://www.ehow.com/about_5183366_amazing-cow.html

http://www.funshun.com/amazing-facts/cow-animal-facts.html

http://lifestyle.iloveindia.com/lounge/facts-about-cow-1564.html

Waitin' on Summer!

For the last 4 days here we have seen nothing but rain (which is VERY odd for this part of Alberta) This time of year we are usually irrigating fields and praying for rain. With the dark clouds overhead I am starting to doubt if summer will ever come. So have decided to post some pictures of my farm in summer to remind not only me but everyone else in this area that summer will come eventually! 





Little calves stretching and staying cool in some water

 

My sister and her 'partner' fishing





Grandpa checking on the cows





What the ground usually looks like!





Having fun around the farm





and of corse: new kittens!



Holidays with a Great Crew



At Medicine Hat pen show



My family has been trying to think of the last time we went on a holiday that had nothing to do with a cow, we couldn’t. For my Family holidays usually consist of going to a cow show, showing at a cattle event, meetings for cattle associations, or going to look at cattle somewhere. Now to a lot of you may think this sound horrible, but I am perfectly ok with it. My sister and I’s hobby is showing cows and even though it is a pile of work, it is what we do for fun!

May long weekend this year was no different. I spent my holiday Monday driving 3 hours away to help my sister in her regional heifer show. Although my day was spent grooming cattle (I will talk about that later) and shovelling poop we had a great time.



The 2011 Show crew!



It is events like this that remind me of what great friends my family has. Every time we go to an event we always have a pile of people willing to help us. We enjoy showing cattle so much but it would defiantly not be possible without the help of so many great people. Over the years our show crew has expanded and so has the number of animals we take. At this show my sister was fortunate enough to have one person for all of her 6 animals that she brought with her.

I am so great full that this is how I get to spend my holidays, I really wouldn’t have it any other way, but it is because of all the great people we have to help us that all the fun we have is made possible!

Mythbusting Mondays: Bulls and Red

I’m sure that we have all heard the old myth that bulls will charge at you if you wear red. Like many other myths about the agriculture industry this is false. Hand in hand with this myth is that Cattle are colour blind. This is also false.

To explain this I’m going to have to get a bit technical. Cattle are Dichromats, this means that their eyes is most sensitive to 2 main spectrums of colour (green/yellow and purple/blue) humans, on the other hand, are trichromats meaning that they can see the entire spectrum.

Cattle are not more sensitive to red than any other colour, but what they are sensitive to is movement. Since cattle are grazers their eyes work so that they can see things coming from a long ways a way. But although they can see it they cannot clearly distinguish what it is. This is why movement will often make them jump even if it is something simple like a tree blowing in the wind.

My family raises bulls and it always amazes my friend when I strike off across a pen of 20 of them without looking back. This is because I know my cattle, for the most part I have seen our bulls every day from the time that they are 7 months old. Even though I know that my bulls are used to people and my family I still take precautions. Even the most nice animal can have its grumpy days or just want to play and bunt you with their head (this is not so fun for me considering they are about 10 times my weight) When walking through a pen of bulls, no matter how tame, it is always good to make slow, deliberate movements and have a quick exit rout in case something goes bad. And you are probably safer to wear your favorite red shirt then to wave something in front of their face.

my sister and one of our bulls

Why Angus?

Being that my family raises Angus cattle I have often been asked what makes it so special, why does everywhere have an ‘Angus burger’ or an “Angus Steak’?
First of all for those of you who don’t know, Angus is a breed of cattle, it has nothing to do with how it is fed, prepared, or cooked. Angus cattle are either solid red or black and polled (no horns)



McDonalds Angus Burger



Angus meat is generally more tender and flavorful than other breeds. It also has superior ‘marbling’. Marbling is a term used to describe the intramuscular fat in an animal. This fat is not like the stuff that you cut off the outside of your steak, but when cooked it melts into the meat to give it more flavor and make it more tender.
for more information about Angus beef check out:
http://www.rancherendorsed.com/info.htm

Cow Detectives

I have just got home from my grandparents house where my family and I have been very busy tattooing calves. (I will talk more about tattooing a little later) We have spent the entire day sorting cows and calves, tattooing and tagging Calves with radio frequency buttons. What always amazes me when we do things like this is how well my grandpa and my dad know their cows.

This year seems to have been the perfect storm of events that lead to cows loosing the ear tags that identify them. (You can see on these pictures how all of our cattle have a number on their tag so that we can easily identify them.) This year being so cold and then so muddy and wet has led to lots of our cows loosing ear tags meaning when we brought them in we had quite a few that most people would assume we would not be able to identify.

 It always amazes me how my dad and Grandpa can walk into a pen full of all solid red cows and tell which cow is which. They know each cow by the way it looks even though they are all the same colour and have no distinguishing marks on them.  My sister and I are always surprised at the fact that they could probably identify all 100 of our cows without looking at the tag but still mix up our names!

Favorite Food Friday: Slowcooker Baked Beans

I have been doing a lot of both cooking and baking latley. armed with my grandma's old recipie books I have been baking up a storm for all of my family who is out seeding. I have decided to add a new segment on here so that I can share some of these fabulous recipies with you guys!
this first one is an oldie, but a goodie. its a super easy slow cooker recipie that you can prepare in no time:
Slowcooker Baked Beans:
cook 1 package of ground hamburger and put in slow cooker
add:
1                Chopped onion
1/2 cup       ketchup
1/2 cup       brown sugar
2 cans         beans
1/4 cup       bacon bits
add to this about a teaspoon each of
salt
pepper
garlic plus
worchestercire sauce
bake for 2 hrs on high

Finally Finished

Last night we came so close to finishing seeding, but the rain stopped us. About 10 o’clock last night the rain began to roll in and with only about ½ an hour of seeding left we had to shut down because the seeding equipment does not work properly in the rain, the disks that are supposed to bury the seed instead  bring it up to the top. But after a day of no rain we finally finished the last round and are officially done seeding for the year!

Hungry Heifers and One Good Dog

I just got in from helping my dad with chores, and this time of year that aint much around our place. Afternoon chores at my house currently consist of packing 10 five gallon buckets of feed to the bulls that we have remaining (although that number is dwindling as more and more buyers are entering breeding season and we are delivering them their bulls that they have bought) and putting about 4 big round hay bales into the heifers (young female cattle).

All through the winter our cattle are fed by hand, we pack buckets of grain to them instead of using a feed truck. This means that by this time of year they are all pretty tame and are not scared of us. Having tame animals has its ups and downs, although it saves a lot on maintenance costs and they have an increased weight gain they are also a huge pain when it comes to feeding. Because these animals are so tame they are not afraid to come right up to me while I am trying to hold a gate open so my dad can get in with the tractor meaning it is super easy for them to escape. They also like to crowd right up to me and start eating their bales before I can even get the twine off.  

This is where my good dog Kricket Lou comes in. (yes my dog has two names, for some reason most things around my farm do, my sister and I once had a cat named Ginger Pumpkin because we couldn’t decide on a name.. but that’s a story for later) Kricket is a blue Healer dog that my family bought back in 2005. Although at first she was really aggressive working cattle, she has now slowed down and is really helpful around the corals. She works great to keep cattle out of the gate while the tractor is going through. She is also very good at bringing cattle up to the trough when it is time to eat. Having Kricket around is a huge help to us around the farm, she is like one of the family, and defiantly does her share of the work! Like the rest of us she has a weakness for ice-cream, this is why when she is in the truck and we go to Dairy Queen we have to order her her own cup of ice-cream so she doesn’t climb up on someone’s lap and eat theirs!

Besides the Cow Thing you are Perfectly Normal

At work it has become the joke to ask me what I have done lately and see how the story somehow relates back to cattle. According to the guys I have this ability to relate every story I tell back to something about cattle. When I was joking about how they think this is odd the other day I was told that besides the ‘cow thing’ I was perfectly normal.  After only two weeks back at my summer job I am often greeted with “and what did you do with cows last night Stacey” as soon as I am in the door.

 What they don’t understand is that raising show cattle is a constant job, taking a break is not an option. I have explained to them about how a cattle show is basically like one of those fancy dog shows you see on TV but on a much larger scale. Preparing cattle to go to shows requires a lot of work that must be done every day.

Besides just daily feeding of specialized diets the select animals around our place that are shown are also given other special treatment, all of them must be halter broke. We start this when they are young just because they are easier to handle and seem to learn faster.  To train cattle to lead takes a lot of time and dedication. We start ours off by working with them every day for a week solid, we tie them all up then pet them and play a radio to get them used to people. These animals are also brushed and washed frequently to ensure that they have a nice coat of hair to work with come show day. A few weeks before the show they are also clipped, or given a haircut, so as to look their best.

Being that summer show season is fast approaching I have been quite busy with all this and spend a lot more of my time out in the coral than in my house. This is probably why most of my stories lately seem to start with something along the lines of: ‘when I was leading my heifer the other day...’

Cookie Salad

I have had this craving for one of my favourite dishes, but have no occasion that I can make it for. So I have decided to share it here for all of you, I love it because it is called a salad so it can be eaten with a meal, but it is defiantly more of a desert:

Cookie salad
mix:
1 cup                    buttermilk
1 pkg                     small vanilla instant pudding mix
½ container        Cool Whip

add to above:
1 can                      drained pineapple tidbits
1 can                      drained mandarin oranges
2 cups                   grapes
add 1 cup of broken up chocolate coated shortbread cookies just before serving

Myth busting: Ag style

Recently I have heard some pretty interesting myths about the agriculture and beef cattle industry. I have decided to do a segment here on discussing some of these myths and telling the truth behind them.

The other day someone asked me: is it true that if you see cattle lying down there is something wrong?

This is defiantly not true. Cattle actually sleep lying down much to the disappointment of all the myths about cow tipping. If a cow is sleeping standing up it is probably due to either poor ground conditions such as excessive mud so that she can’t lie down, or a really bad storm. In the case of a storm a cow will sleep standing up so as to avoid getting snowed in.  If a cow is forced to sleep standing up she will get really weary and become too tired to eat and will lose weight. This is why ranchers always ensure that cattle have a comfortable place to sleep.  

Healthy cattle should spend most of their day chewing their cud or ‘idling’ (lying down or standing as part of a group) Cattle naturally have only two active periods where they are standing and moving around. These time periods are usually between 5-11 am and 4-10 pm. The rest of the day is usually spent lying down and chewing their cud. This is what i naturally observed, but since cattle are curiouse creatures if people come in they will often get up to check them out.

Prince Charles and Sustainable Agriculture

picture from http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/may/05/prince-charles-sustainable-agriculture-farming

Recently I have heard a lot about Prince Charles and his keynote address on sustainable agriculture. Although I knew a bit about sustainable agriculture from some of my classes I did a little research on exactly what it is. It turns out I am not the only one confused, everywhere I looked had a slightly different definition and most even said that it was a hard to find. By looking at a lot of definitions I have concluded that sustainable agriculture is both a philosophy and an agricultural system. It is the practice of farming with the best interest of both the environment and consumers. Sustainable agriculture should not be confused with organic or natural farming practices, although they share a lot of the same ideals there are slight variations. Sustainable farming still allows the use of fertilizers and pesticides, although it reduces the use of these to ensure that there is still adequate land and resources to feed the worlds growing population in the future.

In his address prince Charles suggested that sustainable farming and agricultural processes were the only way to feed the worlds growing populations. He made a very important point when he said that the key to sustainable is small local farmers using sustainable practices.

I see this very much in my area because it is mostly small farmers. When running a smaller family farm farmers have to be very conscious of their land. If farmers were to mistreat their land by overworking it, using to many chemicals, or over watering it they would not be able to farm on it for very long. In this way Price Charles is correct assuming that most small farmers are really stewards of the land. They ensure proper practices are used so that they can continue to farm and feed the public in the future

Cows are Ladies too!

If your job is fighting fires you must have respect for those flames to be able to do your job well. If you work in the customer service industry you must have respect for the customers you serve or they probably won’t come back. If you work in a green house you must have respect for the dirt you grow things in so as to get the best yield. In the same way if you work in the cattle industry you must have respect for cattle.

I am always shocked when people who do not work with cattle very often make comments like “well cows are stupid you just need to build up a fence and push them in the right direction.” Raising cattle requires a lot more than that, but most importantly a respect for the animals that you are working with. Around our place cattle are treated as ‘fine ladies’ as my dad likes to say. Even when it is freezing outside we have to make sure that there needs are taken care of before ours. We make sure that they have a warm dry bed to crawl into before we crawl into ours and that they get their breakfast before we come back inside for ours.

The idea that cows can be just pushed and yelled at until they go where you want them to is also ridiculous. Even if you take everything else out of the question it makes no economic sense to mistreat cattle. If a Cow goes through the auction ring that is sick, injured, underfed, or wild and crazy she  will bring less money. To put it simply happy cows are profitable cows. To insure maximum profit good cattle managers have immense respect for their cattle. They ensure all of the animals needs are met, and that the animals are treated properly and with respect.

Cows are in fact ‘ladies’ they are surprisingly beautiful, graceful , caring, and protective towards their calves (babies) Since they show all these ladylike characteristics it makes sense that they are treated like ladies. 

Inspiration

As I said in my blog post yesterday I have been insanely busy lately, but I can already begin to feel as if I am catching up (I finally finished unpacking yesterday!) Even when I am feeling absolutely exhausted I can always find inspiration in the words of others. My sister is one of these people too, before she gives a big presentation, a 4-H speech, or enters the show ring she is always in need of a little ‘pep-talk’ and although I am usually not the one to give her these, when I am they often involve random quotes that I have found. I love quotes; I have a book of them that I keep just for those days when I am lacking inspiration, so if you are in need of a little inspiration today, or just need a laugh, here are some of my favourites:

“Opportunity is missed by most people because It is dressed in overalls and looks like work” Thomas A. Edison

“Life’s journey is not to arrive at the grave safely, in a well-preserved body but rather to skid in sideways worn out shouting... HOLY COW WHAT A RIDE!” Anonymous

 “I don’t need easy, I just need possible” Soul Surfer, the movie

“Let anyone think less of you because you are young. Be an example to all believers in what you teach, in the way you live, in your love, your faith, and your purity” 1 Timothy 4:12

“Pain is inevitable: suffering is optional” Greta Randolph

"I understand the inventor of the bagpipes was inspired when he saw a man carrying an indignant, asthmatic pig under his arm. Unfortunately, the manmade sound never equaled the purity of the sound achieved by the pig." Alfred Hitchcock

“If you don’t make mistakes, you’re not trying hard enough” Anonymous

“Be not afraid of greatness, some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them” William Shakespeare

“Men’s best success comes after their disappointments”   Henry Ward Beecher

“Only a true friend would fold your underwear” Anonymous

Life on the Farm

In the John Denver song Thank God I’m a Country Boy he says that “life on the farm is kinda laid back”. I would like to know what farm he was talking about because right now it seems as if every farmer/rancher I know, including myself is so busy they can’t tell if they are coming or going. With it finally starting to get warm around here many of the farmers are anxious to get into the fields and start working land so that they can seed.  Being that it has been a wet year seeding is being pushed back so that tractors are not getting stuck. Since it is starting to get nice all the cattle ranchers are starting to bring cows out to pasture, everyone I talk to seems to be vaccinating calves, branding, tattooing and hauling cows and calves out to pastures.

myself I have been crazy busy with my summer job but also cleaning out my grandmas old house to rent out, volunteering with my sisters 4H club, helping my sister to halter break calves for a 4-H show, selecting our summer show pen and also doing  our regular chores around the farm. I am one of those people who enjoys being busy and I have a great time with all the things that I am involved in, but right now I am hoping, like many of the farmers/ranchers around here are, that things start to slow down just a bit!

all my mommas

I am so thankful for the day when my dad and I went to an auction and I bought my first purebred heifer. I was about 11 at the time and since the heifer was already sort of halter broke my dad suggested I continue on with it and join 4H. Since then I have been addicted to showing cattle and because of that lifestyle have met so many amazing people. Being that today is mother’s day I am especially thankful for all the women that I have met that encourage me and help me out along the way. Because of all the support that I am given I like to think of a lot of people as my ‘adopted family’ or in this case, my ‘adopted moms’

The person who first comes to mind is ‘Momma Nola’ who’s family often attends cattle shows with us. I am privileged to be one of the few people who get to call her this without being slapped. She has been deemed this because of how she is always there to take care of my sister and me. She makes sure our shirts are tucked in before we go in the ring and that we have healthy food to eat.

 I have so many parents from my old 4-H club that took care of me throughout 4H that all of them I could call my mother’s too. They were all always there to give me a hand whenever I needed it and 4-H get togethers with my club always had the best food a pile of laughs.

Another great lady who comes to mind is my neighbour and best friend’s mom. She is always around to help out with any project we have on the go around here, and always has some awesome snack for us. Many times I have relied on Darla on school trips to be my mother when my real mom is not there.

I also can’t forget Sue I have known her all my life and apparently my parents met her family at an arena that they both kept horses at. Sue is like a mom to me in all the support she gives, I took my first semester of University in the city that she lives in and was very often invited over for supper.

Of course I can’t forget my real mom and my grandmothers. These are the ladies that inspire me the most. To this day I still consider my mom superwomen. In my previous post about the farmer’s wife I talked about how farmer’s wives seem to be able to help out around the farm, have jobs and still raise children. My mom seems to do all this and more, she is always out on the farm whenever we need her, she’s there to lend a hand at halter breaking, tattooing and vaccinating, she works full time and often is helping us with daily chores around the farm. My mom also does all of our farms finances, volunteers as a 4-H leader, a district 4-h board member, is a member of the CWL, is on many boards for school activates that my sister and I are involved in and volunteers with numerous other organizations around town. My mom also has an extremely high pain tolerance that makes me think that she is invincible.

Being that today is mother’s day I am so thankful for all the moms in my life that support me, help me, inspire me, and challenge me to be a better person. I am very grateful for my rural roots that have allowed me to get to know such fine ladies!

Job Training

Since the day that I joined 4-H over 9 years ago I knew that it would be a major asset in my life. I knew that one day, when I got a job, I would rely on the skills that I have learned through 4-H. One of the most valuable lessons that I have learned through 4-H is how to speak in public. Every year 4-Hers are required to present a prepared speech and an impromptu (unprepared speech). At first this experience was terrifying. The first time I gave an impromptu I was given the topic ‘rodeo’ which seemed very easy to talk about for only 1-2 minutes. In the minute that I had to prepare my little speech on rodeo I scribbled down everything I could think of. At the ripe old age of 9 I thought it would be a piece of cake. I stood up to give my speech to the room of about 10 people, read all the words I had down on my card in about 10 seconds then started to cry and sat down. Looking back I can now look at this incident and laugh. I can also see how far I have come from this day. I have now competed in public speaking completions not only with my clubs but also my district, region, and province. Being able to speak in public is a skill that I find very valuable. I use it all the time in my classes and also believe it is one of my many 4-h Learned skills that helps me succeed in the jobs that I apply for.

Some of the many useful skills that I have learned through 4-H that I believe help me (or will help me) in the job field include: a knowledge of cattle and cattle nutrition, how to communicate with people, a knowledge of how important volunteers are in our communities, how to conduct a proper meeting, how to keep a record book, how to work as a team, and how to be a leader.

 The skill I did not think I would need is one that I have learned through all my years of doing hi-way clean-up. But this year on my first day at my summer job, that was exactly the skill that I needed. This summer I am once again working for my town and my job is to maintain the roads and walks, and that Includes ditches. With all my practice picking up garbage from ditches this last week at work I was well prepared to once again volunteer with my old 4-H club to help with their stretch of the highway on this year’s highway clean up.

Lauren's Revenge

I have previously mentioned my neighbour Lauren. What I didn't mention is that she is a fabulous baker. I already have her booked in to make my wedding cake (now all I have to do is find someone to marry!) the other day Lauren and her family came to my house with the most amazing dip for apples we call it Lauren’s revenge, here is the recipe:

Lauren’s revenge
1pkg     cream cheese
½ cup   brown sugar
½ cup   white sugar
½ pkg   skor bits
½ tsp    vanilla
mix together and serve with 6-10 sliced apples.

My Kind of Party!

For the last little bit I have been on a bit of a Jason Aldean kick (well ok if you asked anyone around me they would probably call it more of an obsession seeing as his music is all I seem to be listening to lately) I love his song Amarillo sky http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kc823UD0LeU and think of all the farmers and ranchers  in my life that are exactly like that, that no matter who bad the weather is, how horrible the prices are, or what kind of day they are having, they are out there taking care of the crops and animals that depend on them.

Since we raise purebred cattle every year we must register the baby calves. We are required to identify who their mothers and fathers are, their tattoo number, birth weight, if the cow had to be assisted with the birth, and other facts like that. My favourite part is that we get to name them all too! All of our cattle must be named with our prefix (CD) to identify that we were the people who registered it. Since we raise red Angus the cattle, they must also have the word red in their name.

Now you make think that I am going off on a complete tangent, how could naming calves possibly relate to my recent obsession with Jason Aldean? Well when it came time to register my bull calf out of my cow  Red C.D. Matrix Romeo 33’07 his name could be no other than Red C.D. Redneck Romeo 101’11 from Jason Aldean’s Song My Kind of Party.  

The Farmers Wife

A few months ago when I was home for a visit I went with my sister to her regional 4-H speak-offs. Her impromptu topic (or unprepared speech) was on ‘the farmer’s wife’ My sister talked about how the roles of farmers wife has changed from a house wife who took care of the children to someone who is very involved in the business of farming. Although I believe this is true to some extent, when I look at the stories that my grandma tells me I realized that this is not entirely the truth.
My grandma passed away in December and since then I have learned a lot about the amazing life that she led. As a young girl my grandma grew up on a farm with all brothers because of this she was very determined to win. My aunt tells me that she used to brag about how when the wagon and buggy would come to pick up the boys for school, by the time they stopped for all the kids and took the road my grandma could run across the prairie and beat them to school. My grandma was a great cook and also used to tell stories about how she cooked for the thrashing crew at a very young age. This dedication that she had is what, in my opinion made her a great farmers wife.
When my grandma married my grandpa they lived on a farm and raised Herford cattle. My grandma used to talk about not only raising children, cooking for crews on the farm, but also pitching in with chores from time to time when help was needed. My grandma was a very devout catholic and a perfectionist (she ironed her rags) and I can still remember the closest I ever got to hearing her swear: I came into her house one day after working with the cows and did not realize how dirty I was, once realizing it I apologized for leaving mud on her floor and went to leave and she told me “when I used to get mad at your grandpa for bringing mud into my house he would always reply to me ‘the crap from those cows is what makes the money, without taking care of them in the mud we wouldn’t have this house we have’”
from then on every time I think of a farmer’s wife I think of my grandma and how she not only managed to raise 5 kids, keep them fed and her house spotless but also to lend a hand around the farm when necessary. Today I see this in the many farmers wives that I know, most of them also have full time jobs, manage the finance of the farm, and also are out there to treat sick cows, chase cows in the mud or dust, feeding cows daily and helping out in other ways around the farm.

His name is Fabio cuz he’s Faaaaabulous!

My little sister is 3 years younger than me, and I must admit, for a long time now her cattle showing knowledge has long surpassed mine. As they would say in one of those cheesy movies:  “the student has become the teacher”.  So when it comes to her 4-H animals my sister kind of does her own thing and although she is still somewhat small in size she still manages to do most of the halter breaking, feeding and grooming all by herself. She only calls me out when she needs someone to be the ‘anchor’ on the end of the rope of an animal that is put on a halter for the first time. My job has become just holding on to the end of the rope so the 1000lb steer doesn’t get away from her. Today I once again got the opportunity to be the teacher and not the ‘muscle’ or the student. Our neighbour, and my best friends little sister Lauren joined our local beef 4-H club for the first time this year. Lauren is 6 years younger than me, and since our families are so close I always call her the little sister that I never had, and she will always reply “and you’re the big sister I never wanted” as you can see Lauren and I share and odd sense of humour, whether it is being the only two laughing at the joke ‘why did the Ram fall off the cliff: because he didn’t see the ewe turn” or joking about strange slogans there are always laughs when we get together.

 When I was home for Christmas break I had heard that Lauren had joined 4-H and when I asked her the name of her steer she replied to me “Fabio cuz he’s Faaabulous” (making the A long). Since then I have been very excited to see her fabulous steer. Today I got that opportunity when I came out to help her try to lead him around. I was very impressed with all the work she had done. Fabio had only been led a few times but when we got in there to help her out he followed us around like an old pro. This was because Lauren had put so much work into quieting him down, she had tied him up often, packed food and water too him and brushed  and petted him all the time. I really enjoy helping out new 4-H members in my community because as a young 4-Her myself I was given lots of help too. With all the work she has put into her steer I can’t wait to see how fabulous Lauren and Fabio look on show day!

True North Strong and Free

Last year around this time I was just arriving home from a Citizenship seminar in Ottawa Ontario. I had been sent on this trip as a representative for Alberta 4-H and loved every minute of it! I not only got the opportunity to meet new friends and see different part of the country but also left with a strong sense of pride in being Canadian. Through touring parliament, the war museum, the senate and the swearing in ceremony for new Canadians I grew to appreciate even more the opportunities that I have as a Canadian citizen.

Since this trip I have been patiently waiting for my turn to exercise my civic duty and vote.  Today I got that chance! At 19 it is my first time to vote in an election and I was extremely proud to mark that X. I am a true believer in the fact that you can’t complain about politics unless you take the opportunity to vote and voice your opinion. I am now not so patiently waiting by the TV with my whole family gathered around waiting on the election results! I am thankful for my Canadian agricultural roots and am extremly proud to be a Canadian Citizen and have the opportunity to exercise my write to vote.

Never too old

The last few days I have been done school and moved home but I don't start work until tomorrow morning. So by default I have become, in my dad's words, the 'hired man' (which I think is a very inappropriate term as I am defiantly not on the pay role and am a girl, but that is another story.) I have been waking up early to feed bulls at my house then driving across town to my grandparents house to help feed the cows and calves. my job usually consists of packing buckets full of barley and pellets to the cattle and opening the gates to the pens so my grandpa can get in to give them a nice fresh bale of straw to lay on. But my favorite part of helping out around the farm is when we need to go take a hay bale to the cows in the pasture. when we get out there I get to help spread the bales, then walk through all the cows to check if any of them are sick or injured, and though I enjoy that too, the ride out there is still my favorite part.
My grandpa loads up a bale on the tractor, then just as he did when I was a little kid calls for me to come up in the tractor with him and ride out to the field. Now I have to admit, when I was young there was a lot more room, I could sit comfortably on the tool box and not worry, now I am too tall and must sit crouched over so that I can fit. I don't mind this at all because on the way over to the pasture my grandpa tells me stories about our family like how my great grandpa migrated over from Poland,or how Grandpa and his brother used to trail cows to auction for the neighbors for 'big money' ($40 in those days). Just like my Grandpa who often tells me that he will never get to old to feed cows because the cows are what keeps him young I have came to the conclusion that I will never get to old to ride with my grandpa in the tractor and listen to his stories.
This is one of the main factors that has led me to truly believe what my parents have told me all these years; that agriculture is not only a business, but more so a way of life.