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 .

Sunday 29 May 2016

Since last we talked...

Or rather since last I posted.
We got rain!!!! Lots and lots of rain! they reported 6 inches in 4 days! and we have had showers on and off since! I think you can hear the grass growing!Such a huge relief.I hear that Fort Mac Murray is also getting some more substantial rain as well.

these were taken after the first day of rain, it got better! the dugouts are full, and there is MUD EVERYWHERE, also no dust! 
We did have some hiccups with so much rain so fast, the flashing around the furnace in the barn is apparently a bit small so rain came in and leaked into the office. We hoisted up a big Rubbermaid barrel to stiop the leak for the short term,but see that we need some repairs. Also its important to clean your eaves troughs! Had a little oops there with water leaking down around the bedroom light and onto the bed! Fixed that fast ! with my hero standing on a ladder in a rainstorm cleaning the eaves! Had me humming the old tune "uh oh,no no don't let the rain come down, my roofs got a hole in it and I might drown".

That coupled with a small plumbing emergency I am sure glad Martin is home on weekends now! 
Attended Abby's 7 birthday party, How did she grow up so quick! 
She has my sister's and my old playhouse, they are planning to fix it up and paint this year, but for now she has a lovely little garden set up at it. That old playhouse holds years of memories for Heather and I .My dad built it when we were small, and it survived all those years and a move to its new home! Well done Dad!


SO business as usual, rain or shine, still have a few late calvers in, and the rest are out on pasture. In fact we moved the older group of calves today with the help of none other then the Calf Whisperer 2.0! Winston taught his little protege well! 
Don't worry about Skeeter , he was there too, but unless I am out of the gator he seems to feel his job is more of a coach/consultant, or specialist.If there is a particularly fractious cow, he is on it, but mostly with moving calves he lets the golden boy do the heavy lifting so to speak! 

 as you can see ,even though they are "working dogs "lol, they are treated pretty well 



But if there is a need , "Speeder" is on it! in fact just before dads birthday we had a cow out, as it turns out she was pretty rammy as a result of a bear in the area, but Skeeter got in there to work, that old girl was fast, it takes a lot to get him but she got Skeeter down and rolled him a bit. When he got up he was one peeved pooch! and got after her to get moving in a big way. He was fast and furious and she didn't get another crack at him!
Farrier day today as well, and I had help with Martin and Dad! Stryker is actually dads horse, and it was so nice to see the pair of them bonding .Age and wisdom combined in the pair of them ! 

Trimmed Phoenix in the barn again, works a treat, he is a perfect gentleman with now pretty girls to distract him,he did however seem to have the itchiest ears ever! the entire time he was leaned into me having his ears scratched as hard as I could ,inside and out! 
Johnnie is somewhat improved, but still not completely better. The ongoing issues with the smoke seem gone but unfortunately his reaction to it remains. He is off the major medications and stable on an herbal blend ,but I sure want to see him back to his old self! 

SO that's all the news I can think of... 
except I rescued a butterfly the other day.
Thought he was a goner but warmed up in my hand so hopefully after I set him down in a warm sunny spot he continued to improve.

Not too sure as he/she did have a little tear in the base of one wing,but I hope...

Anyhow, stay safe friends, I am off to read what you have been up too, and maybe even leave a comment or two!

9 comments:

Nuzzling Muzzles said...

That's a lot of rain. Leaks are such a nuisance, especially when they keep springing up faster than they can be repaired. The house I live in now is the first I've had that hasn't leaked -- knock on wood. Beautiful butterfly.

aurora said...

Glad you got some much needed rain. What a special playhouse, lucky girls & now Abby. It's so cute, and sturdy. I am sure it brings you great joy to see it be loved again, by another little girl full of imagination. Your dogs, lol - hard at work and rest!! Great seeing your dad & Stryker together. Hoping Johnnie just needs more time and will recover fully. As for the flutterby, it's the little things in life...they always stop me in my tracks.

Shirley said...

Henry is so precious! and Skeeter- good for him for getting after the cow that rolled him. Can't keep a good dog down!
So glad you guys are getting the rain, hope it doesn't over do it like it can in June.

kden said...

Henry is sure growing up to be a handsome fella, glad he has learned the ropes well. We are expecting to hit 90 by this weekend, a little rain would be nice.

cdncowgirl said...

So much going on! Yet the thing that sticks out most right now... I'm a bit jealous of that awesome playhouse! :D

Cut-N-Jump said...

So I'm not the only one with the waders out??? Well that's good to know! Hahahaha. All of the flooding in these parts has been on the north and west side so far. The rivers are all up from what's considered normal and I'm glad to say I'm not in Kansas anymore. ;-) lol

Crystal said...

Wow that's a lot of rain we were quite happy with our 2 1/2 inches cant imagine 6!
A lot going on, nice pic of your dad and Stryker and I love the playhouse garden :)

Optimistic Existentialist said...

Bless you for rescuing that beautiful butterfly...

Unknown said...

knock on wood. Beautiful butterfly.


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