Even the little camera on my phone does a decent job recording the sunsets we've been having!
Mum and Dad have snuck away to go to the Canadian Rodeo Finals in Edmonton. Paul and Chloe (the Aussies) and Magalie (from Switzerland) have gone as well. Sounds like they are all having a great time, and certainly everyone deserves the break! Mum and Dad have purchased a big stock trailer through a very good friend in Saskatchewan, so they are taking a few extra days to visit there as well. Perfect.
Meanwhile, back here in the wild west Chilcotin, things are pretty good, considering. Usually when half the crew leaves, both the thermometer and the snow start to fall! It has been great weather up until now.....it's -14 at the moment and falling fast. But our calves are weaned, healthy and happy with their feeding routine and the cows are back out on good rustling ground, so a few chilly nights (beautiful days!) is not a problem. We do have to keep a close eye on the cows to make sure they are in good fresh rustling areas. (After the snow is disturbed, it usually hardens up and makes getting the grass considerably more difficult.)
The replacement heifer calves at feed. Aren't they clever to get right in to their feeders? Argh... We can only use certain ones for them as they tend to get 'stuck' in those not perfectly suited.
You can see in this photo how the long grass lays down under the snow, and the cows just nose through it. The grass stays surprisingly green under it all. This year is not so great as it was such a dry summer that the grass dried out early, but they still look great.
One of the groups of horses. These are the 'not so tough' group, mixed in with a few that need to be kept close by as their work is not quite done for the year. Left to right is "Blue", "Crow Bait", "Rea", then "Fireball" in the front. Behind her with the white star is "Smelly Nelly", then you see "Fugly's" white legs and belly. "Sorbay" has the white stripe, with "Cessna" right behind him and "OJ" at the far right.
My 'little' brother Charley is out here at the moment, which is wonderful. Not only do we enjoy spending time with him in general, but his experience and expertise with the chainsaw and fencing is sure appreciated too. With Eli almost full time there and Paul and Chloe's help as well, there is sure lots of fence being built around Five Mile in a hurry! (But with plenty yet to come!)
Sun sets over Kappan Mountain (view from Five Mile)
They never, ever stop wrestling!
Oh, and the beef bacon and corned beef is pretty much done. And so delicious! I smoked it all today and wrapped up the bacon. The corned beef is still cooking at the moment, but is about finished as well. So yummy! I will most certainly share these recipes as they are simple and well worth the effort!
Must be good as the boys insisted that I cook a
'little bit more.... for dessert!"
Enough beef bacon for a feed or two.
Alright, on that note I'd better go and check the corned beef, and then if it's finished, I'll sneak off to my pillow!
Cheers all,
Punky
2 comments:
Seriously I think you need 5-6 totes full of bacon for your household and that still wouldn't be enough!! LOL! Glad Wanda and Roger are having a break, how are the Auzzi's doing with the 'cold' anyway??
Hi Karen! You are right, I am already planning my next batch because I can see that this one will not last long! The Aussies are doing great with the cold actually, they've had some time to acclimatize! Mum and dad are in Saskatchewan at the moment, probably getting a bit panicky with all the nasty weather we've been having. We've gotten close to 8 inches of snow, but it is all light fluffy stuff that will settle out to not much. And the weather is supposed to turn sunny again, so really can't complain.
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