A Frosty Morning & a Thanksgiving Feast with Family

A frosty, snow-covered world greeted us this morning, with the sun shining across it and everything sparkling like glitter. I made coffee and delivered it to S in bed—actually, two cups this morning—as we worked on our brain puzzles and he caught up on his news.

I finished Saturday’s blog post but held off sharing it till later today while S buzzed his hair.

B arrived after 12 to feed the horses and, of course, discovered an injury on Jimmy. She cleaned it up while Bird took her usual turtle-paced approach to eating. Meanwhile, S had backed out the car and loaded our food and drinks, so we were ready to head out before 1.

Renn was super excited when we arrived, with snacks and games waiting for us. Nathan spent more than three hours in the kitchen creating his amazing Thanksgiving supper of roast beef, creamy garlic mashed potatoes (from the garden of course), buttered carrots, green beans almandine and the buns I’d made.

Chef Nate extraordinaire <3

There were lots of games including this new Peppa Pig Yahtzee

Lots of play, colouring and entertainment by miss Renny! Sheldon also fit in a good hour nap after the long drive :)

I snapped a few Boysis family shots but totally forgot Nana and Grandpa and Auntie B with Renny!

Niki joined us too, as she’s here pet-sitting for a friend for a few weeks. She had brought pumpkin pie, and I brought the apple crisp, which we served with ice cream for dessert. There was certainly no shortage of good food!

After a lovely afternoon and supper together, we said our goodbyes and headed home at 7. B put the chubbies back in their diet pen before jetting home, while S settled onto the couch for sports.

The entertaining child continued her antics after we left.

I fed Harley, published Saturday’s blog post and worked on today’s entry from bed. After finishing his sports, S joined us, and we started watching a new series called Brothers, starring Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson. It was quite funny.  After two episodes, we began another new series called Widow’s Bay, which won 14 Emmys this year. Unfortunately, S fell asleep. Goodnight All, Happy Thanksgiving!

It was such a lovely day spent with family, sharing good food and enjoying one another’s company. A frosty start outside, a warm Thanksgiving gathering and plenty to be thankful for.

First Snow, Marketplace Sales & a Two-Batch Bun Disaster

I fell asleep after working on brain puzzles and reading last night, then woke to brain puzzles and a light dusting of snow! When I got up to feed the cats and make coffee to deliver to S in bed, the snow had started coming down softly. S made himself a second cup before returning to sports on the big screen after feeding the cats their soft food.

Once dressed, I headed outside to toss hay for the chubbies and get the beet pulp soaking. Harley joined me for a few snow frolics before breakfast, enjoying the change in the weather.

Thursday’s blog post went live, along with a Hometalk post featuring the black square coffee table. I also had a lady interested in a plant stand, who turned out to be our pharmacist! She ended up taking the blue-green bench instead. Another sale—yay! A second lady was planning to pick up an ornate frame today, although we weren’t sure how the travel logistics would work with the horses out and about.

Next, I went through the four boxes of tomatoes, washing the ripe ones and putting them in the freezer. We’ll certainly be well stocked for winter! I also put a batch of bun ingredients into the bread maker to mix while I tackled some accounting and other computer work.

Eventually, I decided to run into town to meet the two buyers at Britt’s and check on Gully. Sheldon opted to remain on the couch watching sports, where he spent pretty much the entire snow day. By then, the snow had turned to sleet, which could make the highways interesting later when everything froze.

Gully was absolutely thrilled to see me, happily accepting pets before eating his food. The items were picked up, and I swung through Tim’s on the way home for a Thanksgiving pumpkin spice muffin as a little treat.

Back at the ranch, I had just enough time to head out and feed the horses, with my helper Harley, of course! Sheldon was quite content to stay on his couch, having discovered the addictive brain puzzles himself.

I panned up the buns, although this recipe seemed unusually dense and heavy. While they were left to rise, I made two pans of apple crisp. I took the apple cores and scraps back out to the horses, just in time for another blast of sleet.

While the buns and crisps baked, S and I compared our puzzle words. Between us, we were only missing three of the 64—not bad at all!

Unfortunately, when the buns came out, they were heavy, dense and doughy. BOO! The apple crisps looked tasty, at least. I published Friday’s blog post while slowly catching up, then started another batch of buns!

Before dark, I went out to toss hay to the chubbies, who hadn’t had their pasture time today. I’d thought the gate to the hay field was open for other horses, but it turned out S had locked them in last night on his way to church rather than opening it. 

B made it safely home after 6, thankfully. The QE2 highway is bad enough without freezing ice forming on the road at those 120 km/h speeds.

While the second batch of buns rested, S and I started a movie, The Death of Robin Hood. It had some very graphic scenes, and I wouldn’t recommend it, although the ending was okay. I panned up the buns, gave them an hour to rise while the movie continued, and finally got them into the oven.

Once they were baking and cooling, we started a new series called Kill Jackie, which was a bit off the wall too. Apparently, our entertainment choices weren't exactly hitting the mark tonight!

At last, the second batch of buns was baked, cooled and bagged by 11 p.m. After all that effort, I was hoping this batch would turn out better than the first. Between the snow, sleet, blog posts, marketplace sales, frozen tomatoes and bun-making adventures, it was quite a day to be tucked away at the ranch!

A Windy Morning, Double CFR Perfs & a Day of Catching Up

I woke at 5:30 to the sound of the wind blowing and spent a while tossing and turning. My intuition kept telling me to get up and check the horses, even though it was still dark and cold. So, just after 6, I got dressed and headed out.

Sure enough, the horses weren’t at the middle shelter! I walked along the fence with only my flashlight to guide me, when Roo suddenly popped up behind me, with little Hank following along. I got hay down from the fourth mezzanine, tossed them a couple of flakes, and headed back inside to crawl into bed again.

Shaina FaceTimed from Bali they were having a great time.

Hank was standing at the middle shelter, which was good to see. 

Once up for the day, I had coffee and worked on a brain puzzle while S perused his X with a couple mugs. The other horses had headed out to the hay pasture, so S bundled up against the 2°C temperatures, took the Ranger out, closed the winter gate and let the two chubbies out. No more hay field for those two! He also filled a water tub for the horses east of the house.

It was the perfect sort of day to stay inside propped up on the bed to watch the 11 a.m. CFR performance. I put an orange chicken in the slow cooker, an easy meal for a cold day, and got a load of laundry going too.

While S watched another rodeo on TV, I unpacked my suitcase and finally published Tuesday’s blog post. He then braved the wind for a hot tub, while I tackled the workout I’d been procrastinating. One thing led to another, and I decided to have a shower afterward—but that turned out to be poor timing!

Hank was heading toward the gate for water, giving me the perfect opportunity to get the horses back into their diet pen. With my hair still soaking wet, I pulled on a toque, housecoat, sweatpants and a jacket, then recruited S to come along. I managed to lure them both into their pen, and that was that for the night. Not exactly how I’d planned to spend the time after my shower, but the horses were where they needed to be!

S caught some hockey before heading off to church. I spent the entire time he was gone working on the blog and trying to catch up. There were lots of videos to convert and compress, along with photos to add, but I finally got Wednesday’s post published.

After church, S popped over to feed Gully and put Britt’s parcel inside, then filled the car’s fuel tank. I had rice cooking and spent some time chopping up a pile of the little zucchini to freeze for future soups. I also had a panful prepared for supper, ready to go once S got home with the second round of CFR underway.

Supper was a belly-warming meal on a cold day. The orange chicken was ok but I prefer creamier chicken. I scrubbed up all the pots and pans while S pulled out the disgusting dishwasher drain for a good cleaning. Funny enough, there were toothpicks in it too! You never know what you’ll find in there. :)

We moved to the big bedroom TV to finish watching the final CFR performance. B and Cheyanne attended it tonight, lucky! Once it was over, S switched over to hockey while I worked on more brain puzzles. Those things are addictive! S eventually nodded off, and I read for a while before calling it a night.

With the wind howling outside, it was a good day to stay warm, catch up on a few things and enjoy some exciting family news from Bali. And thankfully, Hank was looking better!!

A Trip to Winners & Keeping an Eye on Hank

I woke early and worked on my brain puzzle until S got up and made coffee. I skipped my second cup since we needed creamer ;) and spent the morning working on blog posts. Monday’s post didn’t get published until the evening, but at least I made some progress.

I bet you cannot keep a straight face on this little performance!

Harley and I headed out to let the two chubbies out and walked all the horses to the winter gate just before 11. It was pretty obvious on our walk back to the house that they had indeed been out last night! I closed all the vents and windows in the horse trailer, as the weather forecast for tomorrow sounds pretty miserable.

Who needs a halter when you have hair :)

Back inside, S and I decided to make a run into town to feed Gulliver, pick up some coffee syrup at our newly opened Winners, and grab lunch. I also dropped off a library book along the way. The new Winners is huge and, as usual, had lots of stuff to browse through. Sheldon even found a camo shirt, but my search for king-size bedding was a bust.

Shaina sent their Bali digs, WOW!!

While feeding Gully, I picked up another book from B’s library. He had some soft feed and off he went, happy enough. Since it was Friday, clam chowder was the special at the Roadhouse. I’d been wanting soup yesterday on our drive home, so this sounded perfect—and it was! We’d also just bought a local football card that gave us 10% off, which was a nice little bonus.

The wind kicked in as forecast, although the temperature did reach 20°C.

Renn circling her Christmas wish items

We were home before 3, and I noticed Hank lying down in the winter pasture. Watching him for a bit, I became concerned that he might have a tummy ache from only 3 hour in the hay. He rolled a couple of times and lay down again, so I headed out to catch him. S was pumping water out of the tanks under the deck, so I had him hold Hank while I checked his heart rate and gut sounds.

After walking Hank for a bit, I turned him out in diet pen while I mixed the horses’ feed. S brought the Ranger around so we could load the buckets and the mineral tubs I’d brought back and washed out. Hank was now lying in the shelter, but he got up and hurried out when we drove over to fill the mineral bucket. Unfortunately, once we moved on to the other gate, he was lying down again. Following B’s advice, I caught him and gave him a syringe of salt water.

I had S walk Hank around while I struggled to get the horses sorted into their feeding spots with a Ranger full of food. I eventually got everyone in place, leaving Bird in the far paddock. We switched jobs, with S picking up the empty buckets and opening the gate when he was finished, while I walked Hank. I spent about an hour keeping him moving and checking his gut sounds and heart rate several times.

S took the Ranger to check along the fences while I let Hank into the barn paddock. He started nibbling on the short grass by the pool table, which was encouraging. I kept an eye on him to see whether he would drink, poop or lie down again. In between watching him, I put away more yard decor, moved the water hose that was pumping out, and did some tool weeding in the garden. Thankfully, everything went well and he stayed on his feet.

Auntie Mindy's after signal fall

When S came back, we grabbed a cold drink and sat on the deck watching Hank a little longer, although the wind was getting downright crazy. I dug some carrots and beets for supper. I’d originally planned to dig them all, but with no cold storage available, I’m hoping to leave the rest in the ground a little longer.

While I was harvesting, the weather turned ugly, with stronger winds whipping dust through the air. S put the Ranger away and shut the shop doors as I went inside to scrub the vegetables and get supper started. We cooked up some of our new beef T-bone steaks on what turned out to be the last nice BBQ day for a while. It was cooler by then, and thankfully the wind had eased a little.

Mayonnaise anyone?

As we were eating and darkness began to settle in, I looked out and saw Hank lying in the shelter again. Out I went! He popped up right away, and I listened for gut sounds. They weren’t as loud as earlier, but I could still hear them. After I let him go, I tried to hear on Roo again, with absolutely no luck. I looked over and saw Hank pooping, which was another good sign, so I went back inside to finish supper and catch up on the CFR.

We moved to the big bedroom TV, and I finally finished Monday’s blog post and published it. The ladies’ barrel racing had some frightening moments. One of the competitors, a vet, had her horse break a leg at the third barrel. Our own girl from Gleichen had trouble too; her horse was so excited that they didn’t enter the arena properly, and she ended up not running.

I went out to check Hank again at 9, then we finally finished watching East of Eden. S was sound asleep, so I started the new book I’d borrowed from B before heading out to check Hank once more at 11. Everything seemed okay.

It took me a while to settle down, but I woke again before 1 a.m. The temperature was down to 5°C, so I got dressed and headed back outside for yet another check. Hank still seemed okay—whew!

Hopefully, we can all get some sleep now. It’s hard to relax when one of the horses isn’t feeling quite right, and I’ll be keeping a close eye on him.

Home from CFR, a Freezer Full of Meat & a Bali Surprise

We slept in after our late night, then got ourselves organized to head home. Sheldon showered while I started packing, and he ran downstairs to move the truck around to the front of the hotel and bring a cart up. By 10:30, we were off having loaded up all our belongings.

Our first stop was to meet the meat-packer delivery man across the city, taking us in the opposite direction from home. We loaded up two animals’ worth of meat before hitting the road south. Tim’s was hard to find so McDonald’s it was — but really, fries for breakfast, LOL!

Sheldon navigated us south, with a stop in Red Deer for him to enjoy a sundae along the way. I had suggested soup or salad but ice cream always wins.

Our first stop in Strathmore was to Paetzs for unloading the one-and-a-half animals. We had a quick visit before the other fellow arrived to pick up one of the animals, then we headed over to Stouts to collect Harley.

We stopped for a beverage and a quick visit before heading home. A huge THANK YOU to Sharon and Darren for taking such excellent care of Harley while we were away! XOXO

Back at the ranch, I opened the winter pasture gate and closed the yard gate as we drove in, hoping the horses would head out to the hay pasture. Food won their attention, though, so they weren't too concerned about exploring. I tossed the chubby ponies some hay before we got busy unloading the truck.

There was a lot of meat to sort through! S weighed everything, I organized it and packed it into the clean freezer. It felt good to get it all put away and know we were stocked up again. This is 1/2 beef.

Harley got her raw food supper, and I worked on Sunday’s trail ride blog post. Matt sent a text from Hong Kong to reveal the surprise destination of their trip: Bali!! My biggest bucket-list destination! ❤️ Enjoy every minute guys!

Eventually, it was time for us to eat, but with very little thawed and ready to go, spaghetti was the easiest solution while the robot cleaned the floors.

I finished Sunday’s post and hit publish while we watched the CFR on the big TV. The Cowboy Channel's audio and video quality are pretty low quality, much better in person.

We tried to finish East of Eden afterward, but we were both too tired to make it through. After a busy CFR weekend, a long drive home and a freezer full of meat to put away, sleep was definitely calling!

Trade Show Browsing, Rodeo Action & a Late Night in Edmonton

After showers and getting ready, we headed downstairs to meet up with some of the crew before setting off for breakfast. Luckily, we ended up at a restaraunt right next to the LRT, so we hopped on and made our way to the trade show, where we met up with more friends. Brittany was manning things at the Moore’s booth with Cheyanne. We took some time to browse the show ourselves and catch some of the high school saddle bronc competition while we were there.

Thanks to Matt for his loaner stetson!!

We waited for a shuttle afterward, but it never showed, so back onto the LRT we went and headed downtown. Supper was at the casino, where we had a table for 20 — where everyone was fed before the evening’s main event.

Then it was off to the rodeo, where we met up with Brittany as we managed to get her a ticket beside us. It sounds like she and Cheyanne may have tickets for a couple more nights, much to B’s dismay, as she would much rather relax at the hotel with her book! LOL.

Once the rodeo wrapped up, we all met back at the casino for a cold drink. That seems to be the theme of this event! Christie (daughter of the late Winston Bruce) and Jim then invited us to their nearby Vrbo loft, where we enjoyed delicious food and more drinks while the rain started coming down outside.

It was around 12:30 when we finally called an Uber and headed back to the hotel. Naturally, our room key decided not to work, so we had to head back downstairs to get that sorted out before we could settle in.

We watched a little more of our TV show with the lights off, finally calling it a night after 1:30 a.m. Another late one, but that's CFR weekend for you — lots of rodeo, friends, food and visiting, with just enough sleep squeezed in around it all!

CFR Bound, a Hotel Surprise & a Night of Rodeo Celebrations

The usual start to the day, but this morning included some last-minute packing as we prepared to head north to Edmonton for the CFR. S took his truckload of trash and shop odds and ends to the dump before returning home to shower and finish packing. I let the two chubbies out, knowing Shaina would be coming around noon to work with Mac before leaving on her two-week mystery vacation. She would put them back in for me.

We loaded Harley’s kennel, bedding and food, and S had left the ramp out on the trailer. When he took suitcases out, he saw Harley had loaded herself right up, not wanting to be left behind! The plug-in cooler was filled with beverages, I had snacks packed, and soon we were heading out of the yard with a full truck.

We arrived at Stouts to drop Harley off by 11. She was excited to be there, although I’m not sure she was quite as happy once we left her behind.

A stop at Tim’s in Airdrie provided brunch, which we ate in the truck while S navigated the Indy 500 north. With a few recalculations and some missed turns along the way, we eventually arrived at the Chateau Lacombe before 3.

Old Hotel Macdonald in the distance where we had our grade 9 field trip stay!

Imagine our surprise when we discovered we had no reservation! Yikes! Thankfully, they managed to find us a king room. It’s an older hotel, and our room certainly showed its age and smelled of smoke. We even had to sign a waiver and leave a damage deposit, although I’m pretty sure we weren’t going to be the ones causing any damage. LOL.

Our plans to meet friends at 4 at the Westin changed, so we settled into our room with a cold drink before Donnie Jo joined us. After 5, we met up with the rest of the Strathmore crew downstairs and made our way over to the Westin, where the CFR banquet was being held.

It was a lovely evening of rodeo celebrations, good food and catching up with everyone. A delicious meal was served throughout the presentations, and Darrell, the ag member receiving the award, was completely blindsided. That certainly added to the fun of the evening!

my secret video of Darrell getting his award

After the banquet, we all headed back to our hotel, only to discover the lounge was closed. No problem — we had a cooler full of drinks upstairs! Everyone piled into our room, and it quickly turned into a packed gathering full of chatter, stories and laughs.

The last of our company finally left around 1 a.m. Folding back the bedding, we burst out laughing finding “Don was here” penned on the crisp white sheet. Rather than calling it a night immediately, we watched a little more Netflix until sleep finally overtook us.

A full day of travel, a surprise hotel situation and a wonderful evening celebrating the rodeo community — not a bad way to kick off our CFR weekend!