Countdown to Christmas

Only one month to go before Christmas! There is so much to do before then - I don't know where to start.

At least now I can say that I made the first move on preparations for a houseful of company. I arrived home from work today to see that the carpet cleaner had been here and done a fantastic job. I don't know how long it's been since the livingroom has been done and I just couldn't imagine letting people sit on it when the sofa space ran out. Heck, the idea of letting them walk on it without shoes on was giving me the creeps. I've been letting it go because the plan is to tear it out and put down hardwood flooring, but that isn't going to happen before the holidays so something had to be done.

So, tonight there is furniture piled high all over the house while the carpets dry and I'm trying to get other things done. I plan to have my Christmas cards and letters ready for the mail before next weekend - that should keep me busy for any spare minutes I might have. And, I must get out the Sears catalogues and see if I can shorten my shopping list any. We were in Winnipeg last weekend and did a bit of shopping, but the crowds were already crazy and I don't relish a repeat of the traffic (vehicle or human) so I hope to do as much as I can by catalogue or in my own home town. We country folks like our space.

We also like peace and quiet but at the moment that's hard to come by. Yesterday Glen, Jesse and our Katimavik billet, Mike, sorted the calves away from their mothers and penned them apart from each other to wean them. The three days after this is done tend to be the noisiest of the year. The calves bawl for their mothers and the mothers call back. Constantly. For at least three days. And nights.

It needs to be done though. By this time the cows are pregnant again - in effect they are supporting two calves and it starts to take a toll on their condition. As we head into the colder weather it's too much for them. It's not that the calves need the milk any more - Glen says that some of them were almost as big as last year's heifers. It was a good year with lots to eat out on pasture.

We will keep them all in the corrals for a week or so until we're sure that the stress of weaning hasn't caused any health problems and then the cows will go out on pasture again. The calves will stay in and be fed a high protien ration to keep them strong and growing. He has bought some field beans to crush with their chop to see how they like that. Legumes are very high in protien; it remains to be seen whether they'll like the taste or texture.

The snow we got a couple of weeks ago has almost all melted - something that I never expected would have happened this late in the year. This past week's temperatures have been very mild, but yesterday the mercury took a nose dive and the wind howled all night so we're back to thinking winter is here again. With that, and the fact that they're starting to play Christmas music on the radio, I think I better get going on the holiday preparations again .... as soon as the carpets dry up.