Picking up a fallen plum - don't want to leave any behind Us grandkids have followed this woman for many harvest seasons - when we were young and she tended a giant garden; when we were almost teens and she took us fruit picking in Osoyoos or Penticton - when we were just hitting adulthood [...]
All the Spring Things
Summer is just peeking around the corner and the ranch is a busy beehive of activity right now. Rows of freshly cut grass fill the fields, bales are being picked up day by day and Dev's little turnips are poking their heads out. After winter dragged its feet leaving the scene, it feels like the [...]
Beginnings
i'm gonna start should be easy i think i'll start easy peasy
Easter
Little green shoots are starting to overcome the dead brown grass of last summer; the warmth of the sun is still just a fleeting touch now and then - but the robins are out. The river is slowly gathering momentum, murmuring a promise of the spring race about to start and all the wild [...]
Calving… (warning, graphic images)
Dad and I had just finished feeding the various herds yesterday (the cows are divided into at least 6 different fields of various sizes - and the horses are in another) when he got a text from Dev saying there was a heifer having trouble, and we'd most likely have to pull the calf. It's [...]
Corn Chowder!
I love to cook for and with my kids. Recently, one of my daughters asked if we could make up a big batch of corn chowder so she could freeze some. I was happy to do this with her, and of course when the rest of the girls found out what was happening everyone ended [...]
Hello Winter
Winter played shy this year. All of November it hid high in the mountains, only barely dipping its toes down into the valleys below before running back to its perch. Even when the air beckoned with chill and the ground froze invitingly, the snow stayed away. The frost came and layered everything with beautiful lacy [...]
Sometimes you just need a Daisy
It's been a beautiful fall, with gorgeous sunny skies mixed with rain. For the past several weeks the cows have been home, enjoying the pasture, takin it easy and trying constantly to get through the fence to somewhere else. They figure once they've munched their way to one end of the field, there's no point [...]
Farewell Sweet Summer
Dear Summer, You always take so long to arrive - all spring the kids are wiggling and squirming in their seats, watching the skies and wishing for wide open spaces, hot days with ice cream and beaches. It's almost as if you know you'll barely have a chance to unfold your beautiful, green skirts and [...]
Inside the Chase
It's hard to describe the feeling of a cattle drive when it's about to start, but it's one of the best. You never know what's going to happen, how the cows will behave, and exactly what you'll need to do with your horse to keep the cows in line. Its anticipation and butterflies, a little [...]