Note to Self

It's still cold, and honestly, there is not much of an end in sight.  Of course the forecast only calls for -21 tonight (-18 tomorrow, -16 the next night, warming to -15 the next and back to -17 .....)  Of course we know we can ALWAYS subtract another 5 to 15 degrees from any forecast (my thermometer already reads -22.7C).  There are rumors of it getting to -40 tonight......hope they stay rumors...  yuck.  

We've given up on waiting for the weather to warm up a bit, and the holidays are mostly over, so we've been moving stock around again.  As I mentioned, the days have been stunningly lovely and warming right up (to a balmy -5 or better). If you time it right, riding is just fine actually, especially if you can stay in the sun.  We moved cows along the road to Five Mile yesterday and it wasn't so warm....I could see the sun in the tree tops but was in full shade most of the time!  But, I'm pretty good at layering up and I'll always walk if I start getting chilled, so I was just fine.  But delighted to hit the sun again!  

We had some friends out for a few days and Miriam rode with me for the afternoon.  The sun started to go down before we were finished our day, and then it DID get cold!  

Beings as my trusty steed was still at Six Mile from yesterdays mini cattle drive, I had to use the snowmobile to move the bulls today.  And what a pain in the rear end THAT is!  Not nearly as mobile as I wanted and needed to be.  Aaargghh....    The snow is getting deep enough now that the dogs have trouble being much help....they tend to want to 'chase' and stay in the tracks, rather than 'go around' through the fresh snow.  So note to self.....when your dog is creating havoc and not listening properly (or maybe can't hear from all the snow in her ears) and is just adding to the chaos, you CANNOT use a metal whistle at -16 without it sticking to the inside of your lips.  

It's actually not funny.  At the time anyhow.    

Luckily my glowing temper at that point heated the whistle before ripping the skin in this very tender area, the dog came to her senses and the bulls decided their best option was to follow the trail we had set out for them.  All's well that ends well, right?  

 I think I should probably invest in a plastic whistle.   

Frosty Dealer Dog!  

No one has more fun than him in any weather, and he could care less about the temperature with his thick coat.  

In other news I'm finally getting to updating our website, so it was nice to look at photos of something besides snow!  

I'll share a few.....

 Photo Credit to Kris A.  

Summer Cattle Drive

 What are they after, do you think?  

Credit to Magalie S.  

Love this shot by Magalie S.  I think I should send it to the Western Horseman magazine.  

Cheers all, and keep warm....I'm off to stoke the fire!  

Punky