I'm sure it will take me weeks to recover from the over-eating, but it's been a fine time of it.
Christmas is a big thing in our family and this year has been bigger than most. There are seven siblings in my family - most of whom have children and now grandchildren too. With that many people to gather together at one place and one time, it isn't possible to arrange it very often. Even this year we didn't quite make the full family, but it was probably as close as we're going to get. All tolled, there were 42 of us to eat, drink, and be merry together for the past three days. You know what my New Year's resolution better be if I'm not going to go out and buy a whole new wardrobe in a larger size.
But we've had a wonderful time visiting, laughing and teasing; generally making memories with the people we love.
Glen had a wonderful idea a few weeks ago when he decided to host a hay ride for everyone who was around. Boxing Day worked out to be the best day so yesterday we hooked up a big wagon to the tractor, loaded it up with straw, and piled on 30 plus people and off we went. Glen tried to take us through bush country where we might catch a glimpse of wildlife, but I think we were a bit too noisey for that! It was an absolutley fabulous day - the weather was so mild that we snuggled the six month old twins down in the straw and they slept while we built a bonfire and roasted marshmallows and the kids chased the dogs through the trees. It was voted to be the best new tradition to come along and that we should do it every year, but I doubt that the weatherman would cooperate so well every time. Boxing Day could be a raging blizzard just as well as balmy, spring-like temperatures. At any rate - it wasn't only the little kids that enjoyed themselves.
Today is a quieter day. We've been trying to eat up the left overs and find the house from under all the clutter. The babies are sleeping, Glen is out feeding the cattle, and I've got my computer back from the teenagers using it for playing games. Tomorrow it's back to the real world - I think Elections Canada has a huge mailing headed out before the end of the year. I think New Year's Eve will be a quiet evening at home.
Tuesday, December 27, 2005
Tuesday, December 13, 2005
Christmas at Grandma's House
The shift from the greater portion of people living on the farm to having the vast majority living their lives in cities has been taking places for centuries, but in the fifty years of my life it has accelerated considerably. I don't know what the actual numbers are, but even in the rural province of Saskatchewan, the city people easily outnumber us farm folks.
One of the things this does is puts the power of the vote - the political power - in the hands of people who have, at best, a vague idea of agriculture. Not that a factory worker in Ontario needs to know how to milk a cow, or a retail employee in Vancouver should be able to seed a crop of canola, but that, having never seen a real cow, or walked through a field, they have no concept of what work and investment went into the food they consume. You can't blame them for wanting their groceries to cost as little as possible, but if they had a better understanding of the processes needed to produce the food, political policies might be based more on informed decisions.
As it is, most people in this country have no experience of what a farm is. My generation might have a memory of visiting a grandparent's farm, but anyone younger would be out of luck. They get their concept of animals from Walt Disney and have never so much as pulled a carrot from the ground - as simple a harvest as there ever was.
At this time of the year, though, there is a romantic version of an "old time Christmas" that surfaces. Favourite Christmas stories and songs conjure up pictures of a rural setting, a country home, and most of all a simpler time .... heck, even the Muppets head out to Fozzie Bear's Grannie's house for the holidays. (that's one of my favourite season TV specials)
After the rat race we live the rest of the year, and especially the frantic pace we foolishly put on ourselves at this time of the year, I think all anyone wants is to slow it down to an old fashioned bake-your-own-cookies, knit-mittens-for-gifts, sleep-over-at-Grandma's kind of Christmas. I know I love to listen to the old songs I can remember my mother singing alone to - preferrably sung by the same artists. I've never roasted a chestnut in my life, but I love that song!
It's ironic, don't you think, that I am the Grandma and I still long for a simpler time?
I don't know if it will be all that simple, and I can guarantee it will be anything but peaceful, but within the week we will have 16 people and two extra dogs running wild around this place. There will be sleigh rides (behind the quad) and hay ride one night to see the sights (hopefully the Northern Lights will make a showing). We will all eat too much food, probably play board games or card games well into the evenings and enjoy the season through the excitement of the little children we're blessed to have with us.
I guess this is a bit of a Christmas card to the people who read this blog ....... I just wanted to share who we are and what we think and do with all of you and hope that your holiday will be as busy and merry as ours will be - and in true farmer fashion - we'll all soon turn our attention to the next year. To be a farmer is to always live in next year country.
One of the things this does is puts the power of the vote - the political power - in the hands of people who have, at best, a vague idea of agriculture. Not that a factory worker in Ontario needs to know how to milk a cow, or a retail employee in Vancouver should be able to seed a crop of canola, but that, having never seen a real cow, or walked through a field, they have no concept of what work and investment went into the food they consume. You can't blame them for wanting their groceries to cost as little as possible, but if they had a better understanding of the processes needed to produce the food, political policies might be based more on informed decisions.
As it is, most people in this country have no experience of what a farm is. My generation might have a memory of visiting a grandparent's farm, but anyone younger would be out of luck. They get their concept of animals from Walt Disney and have never so much as pulled a carrot from the ground - as simple a harvest as there ever was.
At this time of the year, though, there is a romantic version of an "old time Christmas" that surfaces. Favourite Christmas stories and songs conjure up pictures of a rural setting, a country home, and most of all a simpler time .... heck, even the Muppets head out to Fozzie Bear's Grannie's house for the holidays. (that's one of my favourite season TV specials)
After the rat race we live the rest of the year, and especially the frantic pace we foolishly put on ourselves at this time of the year, I think all anyone wants is to slow it down to an old fashioned bake-your-own-cookies, knit-mittens-for-gifts, sleep-over-at-Grandma's kind of Christmas. I know I love to listen to the old songs I can remember my mother singing alone to - preferrably sung by the same artists. I've never roasted a chestnut in my life, but I love that song!
It's ironic, don't you think, that I am the Grandma and I still long for a simpler time?
I don't know if it will be all that simple, and I can guarantee it will be anything but peaceful, but within the week we will have 16 people and two extra dogs running wild around this place. There will be sleigh rides (behind the quad) and hay ride one night to see the sights (hopefully the Northern Lights will make a showing). We will all eat too much food, probably play board games or card games well into the evenings and enjoy the season through the excitement of the little children we're blessed to have with us.
I guess this is a bit of a Christmas card to the people who read this blog ....... I just wanted to share who we are and what we think and do with all of you and hope that your holiday will be as busy and merry as ours will be - and in true farmer fashion - we'll all soon turn our attention to the next year. To be a farmer is to always live in next year country.
Sunday, December 04, 2005
A Day At The Cattle Auction
You know you're a red neck when you take a day off your nice clean town job, and head off to the cattle auction with your husband. Glen has been planning on expanding his herd this fall and there was a large sale of bred cows over at Virden, Manitoba on Friday - perfect for looking at what was out there, and checking out what prices cattle are going for at the same time.
One lot of cows to be sold were those of a farmer we know from west of here. Glen was really interested in his animals as they are large and in prime condition, but quite a few other buyers felt the same way. The seller of these cows did really well - the younger animals went for well over the thousand dollars - a little out of the range of what we planned to spend. We did buy some of his older animals because Glen wanted to get some of their size into his herd, but most of what we took home were from another herd dispersal - the cows weren't in the best condition, but we have a good shelter set up and lots of feed so they'll do fine through the winter.
We have been a billet family for Katimavik for the past two weeks and our billet, Mike, came with us to see what an auction was all about. I think by the end of the day he had had enough, but he said he did learn lots. First of all - how does that auctioneer talk that fast? And, secondly, how does anyone understand him? I tried to explain what we were looking for in the animals we bought - the health (smoothness and shine) of her coat, her temperment (was she docile or out to kill the ringmaster?), was she limping, blind, have any deformities, and was her udder in good shape to feed a calf? I think, by the end of the afternoon, Mike was catching on.
What he mentioned on the way home, though, was his amazement at how much money changed hands that day. With all the cattle there were for sale, and the average price paid, the receipts at the end of the day probably added up to a half million dollars.
Glen has been noticing that there are a lot of cattle for sale this fall. There are all kinds of reasons - around here, we're in an oil boom at the moment. It is just outrageous what oil companies are paying people to work on drilling and service rigs. You can't make that kind of money farming, and it's hard to keep up with cattle chores when you're working shift work, so the cows are sold off. Give it a few years - oil feild work will go bust, and they'll be looking to start up a new herd again.
But, on a larger scale, cattle are being sold off because they are the only things that are worth anything at the moment. Farmers have bankers and lenders breathing down their backs looking for payments and the grain they grew (using fuel and fertilizer whose prices are out of control) is worth next to nothing. It is a tough situation to be in; you only have one thing making you money and you have to sell it to pay your bills. Glen and I went through a very bad time, finacially, some years ago so I empathize when people talk about the tough straits they're in this year. Maybe they'll be lucky and Ottawa will be handing out money for votes in the west. At least then there would be at least one good thing about an election that nobody wanted yet.
We had planned to buy about twenty more cows but the ones we really wanted went too high. We brought a dozen home and they seem to have joined the herd without difficulty. You never know with herd animals - there always has to be a boss cow. You can have a bit of a turf war if one of the new girls wants to take over that position on someone who has been already running the show for a while. From what I could see the night they came home, they were just glad to have a fresh bale and lots of room to lay down. I think that a trip to the auction barn is a preety stressful time for a cow.
One lot of cows to be sold were those of a farmer we know from west of here. Glen was really interested in his animals as they are large and in prime condition, but quite a few other buyers felt the same way. The seller of these cows did really well - the younger animals went for well over the thousand dollars - a little out of the range of what we planned to spend. We did buy some of his older animals because Glen wanted to get some of their size into his herd, but most of what we took home were from another herd dispersal - the cows weren't in the best condition, but we have a good shelter set up and lots of feed so they'll do fine through the winter.
We have been a billet family for Katimavik for the past two weeks and our billet, Mike, came with us to see what an auction was all about. I think by the end of the day he had had enough, but he said he did learn lots. First of all - how does that auctioneer talk that fast? And, secondly, how does anyone understand him? I tried to explain what we were looking for in the animals we bought - the health (smoothness and shine) of her coat, her temperment (was she docile or out to kill the ringmaster?), was she limping, blind, have any deformities, and was her udder in good shape to feed a calf? I think, by the end of the afternoon, Mike was catching on.
What he mentioned on the way home, though, was his amazement at how much money changed hands that day. With all the cattle there were for sale, and the average price paid, the receipts at the end of the day probably added up to a half million dollars.
Glen has been noticing that there are a lot of cattle for sale this fall. There are all kinds of reasons - around here, we're in an oil boom at the moment. It is just outrageous what oil companies are paying people to work on drilling and service rigs. You can't make that kind of money farming, and it's hard to keep up with cattle chores when you're working shift work, so the cows are sold off. Give it a few years - oil feild work will go bust, and they'll be looking to start up a new herd again.
But, on a larger scale, cattle are being sold off because they are the only things that are worth anything at the moment. Farmers have bankers and lenders breathing down their backs looking for payments and the grain they grew (using fuel and fertilizer whose prices are out of control) is worth next to nothing. It is a tough situation to be in; you only have one thing making you money and you have to sell it to pay your bills. Glen and I went through a very bad time, finacially, some years ago so I empathize when people talk about the tough straits they're in this year. Maybe they'll be lucky and Ottawa will be handing out money for votes in the west. At least then there would be at least one good thing about an election that nobody wanted yet.
We had planned to buy about twenty more cows but the ones we really wanted went too high. We brought a dozen home and they seem to have joined the herd without difficulty. You never know with herd animals - there always has to be a boss cow. You can have a bit of a turf war if one of the new girls wants to take over that position on someone who has been already running the show for a while. From what I could see the night they came home, they were just glad to have a fresh bale and lots of room to lay down. I think that a trip to the auction barn is a preety stressful time for a cow.
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