Welcome to Fern Valley

Here in central Alberta prime farm country,my husband Martin and I work together raising beef cattle and Appaloosa horses. Fern valley appaloosas have long been known for their quality of temperament conformation and color.I have recently rediscovered a love of writing and have published 2 collections of poetry. "Telling Tails" and Tails Trails and Campfire stories" . I look forward to a future spreading my wings as an author and as a horse woman .

Monday 16 September 2013

Fall is on its way

The nights  are  cooler,  the  leaves  are changing ,and  the  hay is  up. Harvest  here in Alberta is in  full  swing,  with  the  combines  going  well into the  wee  hours   on a  good  night . We don't  do  that  here,anymore  but I  remember  many  a  night  dad,my  uncles,  grandpa,  and  cousins and  even  in  later  years  my  brother  in  law  Marc,  working their tails off  to  bring in the  harvest, and  when  the  weather  was  just  right  ,  a  nice  wind  and  no dew, they  did  go  all night in the  big  combines! I wasn't  very involved, being  in  school,  and  also  deathly  allergic  to the  grain  dust ,  but  I  did  dose  myself  up  on  benadryl  from time to  time  to  drive  meals  out to  the  fields.
Anyhow, as  I said  fall is here, and  a  sure  sign  at  Fern Valley  that  the seasons  are  changing is  the  yearly  retirement  of  the "redneck  dipping pool !
Winston  gazes  longingly at it all summer,  but it is  too  tall  for him  to  jump in  anymore(he is  10 now ) But at the  end  of  the  season ,  he  has the  honor  of  the last  swim,  I help him  in  , and  out,  which  basically involves him  getting to swim, and me  getting  DRENCHED!He is  last  to  use it(frankly  as  much  as  I love him ,  no one  wants  to go in  after he  has  been in!The  grubby dude ! )  , then I will  drain it and  clean it  in  readiness  for  next  summer .
So even though  we  not e  that  the  seasons  change , some  things  never  do. Winston  does  love  to  swim,  and  at  least one  time  per  year  he  does it in  CLEAN  water! 
Soon  I  will  be  figuring  out  pens  to  wean  the  foals , sorting  calves to  sell, then  "gathering  nuts " for  the  long  winter  ahead.
Hmm, lets not  get  too  far  ahead of  ourselves! Maybe we  could have  a nice  long  fall  first???
Stay  safe  my  friends 

10 comments:

Willow said...

Too sweet. Our boxer dog loves kiddie pools. Enjoy those Autumn days in between the busy times sit down and take in that beautiful cool fresh air with some hot apple cider ! :)

aurora said...

Winston is one happy dog, what a nice mom you are! Enjoy a nice long Fall!!

C-ingspots said...

Had to chuckle at your comments about Winston! Farm dogs do have a certain, shall we say, patina? :)
But we love them anyway!!
Our summer has swiftly come to a close too and fall is in the air. Like you, I'm hoping for a long and mild autumn and a gradual onset of winter. May it be short and sweet!

Paola said...

So cute! I love dogs!

Nicole said...

I just love Winston. He's my kind of dog :). The nights have been cooler here too, so have the days for the most part but we haven't hit leaf change yet. Ah, I think I'm ready for fall only because I love wearing hoodies.

cdncowgirl said...

It's been cool at night here, but still nice enough to have the windows open.
Most of the days are darn nice too... days like today the only tipoff that fall is close is the yellowing leaves.

Janice said...

I love that pooch!!!!

kden said...

We don't have hay or turning leaves yet but still feel Fall in the air. So sweet that Winston gets his own pool time.

Crystal said...

What a cool dog :) Ya kinda glad for fall but not looking forward to winter at all

Leah said...

Yeah Winston! Fall has arrived here also and we are putzing around getting the yard all picked and making plans for the coming winter. We have had some cool mornings so a couple of the horses are starting to get some fuzzy hair.