JANUARY IS ALMOST GONE

I know that they say that the older you get, the faster time goes, but this is ridiculous! Here we are at the end of January already and I'm not sure that I have anything to show for it. I haven't even been able to finish the book I started to read before Christmas. There are just never enough hours in a day.

Glen and I began an odessey last fall to renovate the larger of our two bathrooms. I took a week off in September to dismantle the closet and vanity, take the tub out, and tear out the old, rotten floor. From there I was at a stand still until some electrical work and plumbing was done, and since Glen is absolutely adamant that he can do as good a job as any highly paid professional I've been waiting on his talents ever since. First there was the harvest - that went on, and on, and on. Then he had to bale cattle feed. To be followed by the next job - hauling the bales home and stacking them. November's weather was the best we had all year so he decided that it was the perfect time to put in fence posts, so my project was put on hold again. I had thought December looked promising, but that was not to be either when my Dad passed away and we made the trip out to Calgary for his funeral.

Now, here we are at the end of another month. Glen has been taking safety courses so that he is qualified to run earth moving equipment in the oil patch. Our area in Southeastern Saskatchewan has a lot of oil activity, and with oil prices so high there are plans to open up a whole new oil field just east of us. Glen says he can work three days a week and it won't interfere with his cattle chores so he's raring to go run Cat. I think I've finally got it across to him that if he leaves the bathroom undone it may not be safe for him to return. This week he's finally got down to business ... we're not done yet, but we are getting somewhere. I can't wait until the ball is back in my court; the dry walling, painting and decorating are things I can do! All I want for Valentines is a long, hot, luxurious soak in my refinished antique clawfoot tub.

On the farm front we wait to see what will happen on the BSE roller coaster. First they announce that the border will open, and then they find another sick cow. "Not to worry" they say, "we knew about that one before our announcement", but then there's yet another BSE cow and it was born after the feed ban. The lobby groups in the States who don't want to open the border are having a heyday with this. The official government stand on both sides of the border says nothing has changed; the border will open, but we all wonder what will really happen. Glen and I are still of the opinion that the longer Canada has to get their packing industry up and running, the better, but with our little operation we can afford the time and risk. The same can not be said of the big operators in the beef industry.