Oh, I know what you are thinking...but the mistake, it turned out to be a good thing or at least it will later this week.
Yesterday we stopped at Costco before continuing on to an appointment. Have you ever tried to whiz through Costco in under a half an hour...I am not sure why we bothered going there first...but I did score a new powered toothbrush. Yipee...when R's broke down last fall I valiantly donated mine...with a new head of course. and so I have been doing the deed with the antiquidated self powered ones. I desparately need to go to a dentist..it has been about 8 years and I am slowly working up my nerve after my last traumatic dental appnt. I suffered for two weeks with the wounds that that asshole inflicted on my lips. Swollen beyond recognition and blistered.. cut in three places all because he was arguing with his wife/hygenist while giving me fillings. He kept hitting my lips with the high pressure air line that they use to blow out the dust from the drilling. I complained to him that he was hitting my lips with it and he said and I quote " I am not, so shut up and quit whining." I kid you not...I never went back to him and am only slightly consoled to know that he had to give up his practice and move back to Bolivia... But now my teeth need attention and I am afraid of not only the unknown with a new dentist but the cost as well...It has been so long I think I need root canal...$$$$$$$$$$$$$ I am sure it will cost thousands with no dental insurance.
We had an appointment with an accountant in the city that day. The final taxes for R's mothers estate. I admit it will be nice to finally be finished with all that paper work. The farm and our own taxes are quite enough. I hated being responsible for keeping track of everything that was involved with his parents estate. I am still not quite sure how it came about that I am deligated to paper work. I think I would have distinctly remembered signing that contract. But it seems to be my lot in life.filling out forms: tax forms, gov program forms, cattle forms,crop insurance forms, Insurance forms, land title forms, bank forms, health forms and he even lends me out to the neighbours to fill out thier forms. How can I say no, and not be a bitch... I have told him not to volunteer me but he still does it sometimes.
Any way, the taxes are filed and we will soon be able to divide up the last of her savings. I know R's brother could use the money to pay his lawyers. hahaahhaa
Today his divorce is before the court. I hope he gets out of that with his skin intact.
After the accountant appnt. we decided to go to a movie...I wanted to see clash of the Titans but it isn't playing yet so we went to see Alice....It was okay, Johnny Depp is still awesome...but I felt it was more of a kids movie...the mistake we made which turned out to be a good thing...was that while we were waiting for our movie to start...we had to wait an hour...we stepped into the hallway of another theatre and watched the first 30 minutes of GREEN ZONE, with matt damon... what an awesome movie...but it totally ruined the Alice mood... after Alice we debated getting tickets for GREEN ZONE. with only 5 minutes before it started.. I was praying R would change his mind...my ass was sore from the lousy seats already...we decided to head home but come back later in the week to see it...yaaaaaaaaa another day in the city....yipeeeee I love going to movies.... I already have a birthday date planned with R for may..when Russell Crow stars in Robin Hood....out may 14.....the trailer looked good.... and I love Russell crow. ahahahahah but not as much as Johnny.... this week we semen test the bulls and butcher another animal for beef...today we get to go and pick up our quads, which we took to the quad guy to have them serviced...it will be nice to have them back...even though we didn't need them this past week we feel naked without them...what if......???
Splendor
March 23, 2010
March 21, 2010
A Few Things Off my Chest
The trip to the city was a bust...I hate days like that...where you are gone for hours but get nothing done...not really... I took my camera along because we were going on this particular highway that we don't normally travel on and there are at least two really lovely old 1800"s dairy barns I wanted to get pictures of this time, and I remembered to take my camera...I even charged the batteries. So we are driving along, both grooving to the tunes in the stereo, and I say to R that I think the first barn is coming up...
Does he slow down ...no...and as we go past...I have to turn in my seat and say "yup" there it goes...but okay, the next one is the one I REALLY wanted to get a photo of...as we drive past that one also, without slowing down...I turn in the seat and give him a nasty look...and he says all sheepish like....I'm sorry, the road is busy, I can't stop...
so no pictures of the antique barns...I was going to paint them...
Any way we get to Fort Saskatchewan and as we pull up in front of this ladies house, where we are delivering the beef, he says " we have a lot to do in the city this afternoon so we we won't be staying" Okay I said... we hop out of the truck and Darwin comes out the door to meet us...followed by his daughter, the lady who lives in this particular house. Darwin lives in the city but he met us here to keep us from having to deliver to two places...The guys start dividing up the meat and Shannon, the lady and I are talking. She tells me she has an 8 month old little boy and tell her about my nieces's 10 month old and how he likes to push buttons so much they had to buy a different unit to house thier TV and stereo... we walked over to where the guys were and they were just finishing...the carried Shannon's share of the beef into the house and she asks me if we will come in for a coffee...I said, No I didn't think so...that we had a lot to do in the city yet... just then the guys come back outside and she hands R the money...and asks him if he will come in for coffee...and he says "SURE"!!!!!!!!!
So we go inside for what had to be the biggest cup of coffee I have ever seen...honestly I am sure each mug held a half a pot of coffee... Now, you may not know this about me but I am caffeine sensitive...and boy is it noticable..after about the first first few sips... I was hyper...Diarrhea of the mouth...and I made the mistake of looking at her baby boy and he smiled at me...I asked him what his name was...and his mom says Jake...short for Jacob...I love that name I said...and just like that I am holding what has to be the heaviest 8 month old baby ever....he was the size of a two year old...and after a few minutes my leg I had him sitting on was going numb. I guess I wasn't entertaining enough because he started fussing and I handed him back...saying oh oh if your gonna cry you can go see mommy.... I don't deal well with squalling babies.
Then, I was acosted by this giant sylvester type cat...( by this time I felt like Gulliver in the land of the giants because Shannon was over 6 ft tall and a very hefty gal) it came up and tried to jump on my lap...I am allergic to cats and try not to touch them to much..but I really like cats though...so I wouldn't let it on my lap, it kept digging it's claws into my leg and then it bit my hand...so that now three days later...I have infected blisters where it punctured the skin. At first I had thought it was my tom cat come back to haunt me and get even for shooting him dead. Then she told us that she wanted to get rid of that cat because it was scratching the baby...I almost took it, just to have the pleasure of shooting it.
After what seemed like two hours, we finally finished the gallon of coffee in our mugs and took our leave. As we went out the door I had to comment once again (I made a comment when we first went into the house) that they had the biggest TV I have ever seen...a 62" flat screen LCD wall mounted TV it took up over the half the livingroom wall... I didn't even know they made them that big. I told you....caffeine bothers me and there is just no shutting me up...my heart was racing and I was flushed...my pupils were dilated and R said I looked like I was about to have a heart attack...with that scarred look in my eyes... that's the racing heart that does that....
Once in the truck...I had to thank R for throwing me under the bus, about going in for coffee after I had said no...because he told me he didn't want to stop...they probably thought I was a hoity bitch...and then I announced that I had to pee....and bad...it was all the caffiene...hahahahah so did he...so we stopped at MacD's and used the washrooms and R can never just use some places washroom with out buying something...so I am waiting out at the truck thinking he was still in the washroom when he comes tripping out with a small order of fries.....ggggrrrrr, don't get me wrong I love MacD's fries...they make the best, but... I am trying to behave and he is an enabler.
I am weak, they were good..enough said.
We rushed around in the city because R had made arrangements to meet friends for supper at Bings, our favorite chinese food place...we were there on time waiting for them...and finally R called to find out that they were actually out near our place visiting thier son and grand baby instead...and they were sorry they forgot to call and cancel.. I was mad...but not surprised since this couple have the habit of doing shit like that...but still....
So we made it home by 10 pm. Twelve hours after leaving home, what a day...it took me until 2 am to fall asleep after all the caffeine.
We scored an invite for easter dinner with some other friends of ours...I am going to pull a joke and give thier son and family a card and sign it aunty Cathy and Uncle Robert, since we are at nearly every family holiday meal they have....like some relative... I joked last time (Christmas day) that when thier boys are grown they will be asking thier mom and dad how those people that were always at grandma and grandpa's house for holidays were related to them....ahhahahahahah
Does he slow down ...no...and as we go past...I have to turn in my seat and say "yup" there it goes...but okay, the next one is the one I REALLY wanted to get a photo of...as we drive past that one also, without slowing down...I turn in the seat and give him a nasty look...and he says all sheepish like....I'm sorry, the road is busy, I can't stop...
so no pictures of the antique barns...I was going to paint them...
Any way we get to Fort Saskatchewan and as we pull up in front of this ladies house, where we are delivering the beef, he says " we have a lot to do in the city this afternoon so we we won't be staying" Okay I said... we hop out of the truck and Darwin comes out the door to meet us...followed by his daughter, the lady who lives in this particular house. Darwin lives in the city but he met us here to keep us from having to deliver to two places...The guys start dividing up the meat and Shannon, the lady and I are talking. She tells me she has an 8 month old little boy and tell her about my nieces's 10 month old and how he likes to push buttons so much they had to buy a different unit to house thier TV and stereo... we walked over to where the guys were and they were just finishing...the carried Shannon's share of the beef into the house and she asks me if we will come in for a coffee...I said, No I didn't think so...that we had a lot to do in the city yet... just then the guys come back outside and she hands R the money...and asks him if he will come in for coffee...and he says "SURE"!!!!!!!!!
So we go inside for what had to be the biggest cup of coffee I have ever seen...honestly I am sure each mug held a half a pot of coffee... Now, you may not know this about me but I am caffeine sensitive...and boy is it noticable..after about the first first few sips... I was hyper...Diarrhea of the mouth...and I made the mistake of looking at her baby boy and he smiled at me...I asked him what his name was...and his mom says Jake...short for Jacob...I love that name I said...and just like that I am holding what has to be the heaviest 8 month old baby ever....he was the size of a two year old...and after a few minutes my leg I had him sitting on was going numb. I guess I wasn't entertaining enough because he started fussing and I handed him back...saying oh oh if your gonna cry you can go see mommy.... I don't deal well with squalling babies.
Then, I was acosted by this giant sylvester type cat...( by this time I felt like Gulliver in the land of the giants because Shannon was over 6 ft tall and a very hefty gal) it came up and tried to jump on my lap...I am allergic to cats and try not to touch them to much..but I really like cats though...so I wouldn't let it on my lap, it kept digging it's claws into my leg and then it bit my hand...so that now three days later...I have infected blisters where it punctured the skin. At first I had thought it was my tom cat come back to haunt me and get even for shooting him dead. Then she told us that she wanted to get rid of that cat because it was scratching the baby...I almost took it, just to have the pleasure of shooting it.
After what seemed like two hours, we finally finished the gallon of coffee in our mugs and took our leave. As we went out the door I had to comment once again (I made a comment when we first went into the house) that they had the biggest TV I have ever seen...a 62" flat screen LCD wall mounted TV it took up over the half the livingroom wall... I didn't even know they made them that big. I told you....caffeine bothers me and there is just no shutting me up...my heart was racing and I was flushed...my pupils were dilated and R said I looked like I was about to have a heart attack...with that scarred look in my eyes... that's the racing heart that does that....
Once in the truck...I had to thank R for throwing me under the bus, about going in for coffee after I had said no...because he told me he didn't want to stop...they probably thought I was a hoity bitch...and then I announced that I had to pee....and bad...it was all the caffiene...hahahahah so did he...so we stopped at MacD's and used the washrooms and R can never just use some places washroom with out buying something...so I am waiting out at the truck thinking he was still in the washroom when he comes tripping out with a small order of fries.....ggggrrrrr, don't get me wrong I love MacD's fries...they make the best, but... I am trying to behave and he is an enabler.
I am weak, they were good..enough said.
We rushed around in the city because R had made arrangements to meet friends for supper at Bings, our favorite chinese food place...we were there on time waiting for them...and finally R called to find out that they were actually out near our place visiting thier son and grand baby instead...and they were sorry they forgot to call and cancel.. I was mad...but not surprised since this couple have the habit of doing shit like that...but still....
So we made it home by 10 pm. Twelve hours after leaving home, what a day...it took me until 2 am to fall asleep after all the caffeine.
We scored an invite for easter dinner with some other friends of ours...I am going to pull a joke and give thier son and family a card and sign it aunty Cathy and Uncle Robert, since we are at nearly every family holiday meal they have....like some relative... I joked last time (Christmas day) that when thier boys are grown they will be asking thier mom and dad how those people that were always at grandma and grandpa's house for holidays were related to them....ahhahahahahah
March 18, 2010
Oh Darn
hahahahahah I forgot to take my camera with me today...so no pictures of our teaming metropolis or me all stressed out from our accountant appointment. ahahah
Maybe I will remember to take it tomorrow when we deliver beef to some customers.
I think we will be handling cattle all this weekend again...time to vaccinate before breeding starts... they will be delivering our new bull next week and we will be semen testing the other 8 bulls we have...
Maybe I will remember to take it tomorrow when we deliver beef to some customers.
this is a Logan bull we bought from ferns neighbour Steve many years ago. he works really good on our straight simmental cows..V
March 17, 2010
What a screw up
I spent all day today getting paper work ready for an appointment with the bank...and for an appointment with the accountant tomorrow....different paper work for each...and of course it took until the wire today, so that I had to rush my shower and grab my purse and out the door we went...it didn't help that R was outside in the truck, with it running...waiting for me....I hate being pressured...ahahaha
So we get to the bank with seconds to spare. You might ask yourself why I was so worried about being a bit late....but the last time we were...she took in her next appointment who had shown up early and we waited for over an hour... So I didn't want that to happen ...R does not do waiting graciously. Get in the office and god damn it... I had brought the wrong paper work... Like you didn't see that coming...
So I had to fax it to the office once we got home, which I hate doing...since that is all our personal info...
I hope to write a bigger post tomorrow...who knows it may be something really good...I am taking my cameral to the accountants with me...maybe something will happen on the way.
P.S. we saw some more pigs today...I can tell already it is going to be a great summer. Oh ya...the bears are out of hibernation already...poor beggars...they are going to be very hungry.. and our first Canada goose flew over the other day...spring is un- officially here.
So we get to the bank with seconds to spare. You might ask yourself why I was so worried about being a bit late....but the last time we were...she took in her next appointment who had shown up early and we waited for over an hour... So I didn't want that to happen ...R does not do waiting graciously. Get in the office and god damn it... I had brought the wrong paper work... Like you didn't see that coming...
So I had to fax it to the office once we got home, which I hate doing...since that is all our personal info...
I hope to write a bigger post tomorrow...who knows it may be something really good...I am taking my cameral to the accountants with me...maybe something will happen on the way.
P.S. we saw some more pigs today...I can tell already it is going to be a great summer. Oh ya...the bears are out of hibernation already...poor beggars...they are going to be very hungry.. and our first Canada goose flew over the other day...spring is un- officially here.
March 16, 2010
A Couple of Birthdays
I am going to be indulgent on this special day and talk about something that is ever on my mind.
Today is March 16th. Today there are a couple of birth days to mark. My sister Leslie, hope she has a great day, kinda sucks that it is mid-week, no time to celebrate. Happy Birthday sis.
The other person celebrating a birthday today would have been my son David, he would have been 31. OMG that makes me feel so old. David was born March 16 1979, he was the spitting image of his father Sid, with pale green eyes and light brown hair. I can't tell you too much about him since he didn't get a chance to live for very long...but I do know that he loved his mommy.
David didn't smile much but he always smiled when mommy came in the room. I carried him around with me most of every day. I had him at the doctors every two weeks I am sure.. no one could figure out what was the matter with him.. he just cried a lot and spewed his formula back up or had bad diahrea. David loved his 2 year old brother Robbie. Robbie would sneak into the babies room and try to feed him cookies and blow raspberries on his belly when I was changing diapers. David would giggle in that high pitched little baby voice that makes us all smile..and then pull Robbies hair. When David cried (which was a lot) Robbie would bring him some of his favorite stuffed toys and try to make him smile, lots of love for a two year old. David wasn't talking a lot at 10 months but he said Mommy, Dadda and Obby and yuk (probably because he heard us say that so many times when he threw up or had a messy diaper). He was weak, but he could stand up and take a few steps if he was hanging on to something... he loved to be outside...and I would take him out after lunch some days and sit with him under the maple trees...he would stare up at the light green leafs moving in the wind.
This is David with my Mom on boxing day.
Before Christmas that year our doctor had him admitted to an Edmonton Hospital, where they did tests and gave him a blood transfusion...they called Christmas eve morning saying we could drive in and pick him up... When we arrived at the hosp. and found the room...( I am not sure why I wasn't staying there with him, I would have if the option had been given to me) and Sid stayed at the desk to sign discharge papers and I went on to the nursery....the door had windows in it and I could see him standing in the steel crib with his hands on the top rail and his head bowed with his forehead resting on the rail...he looked so lonely and dejected...being the only baby still left there at Christmas...it made my heart break....so I tapped on the window and he looked up...and ( I will remember this part for the rest of my life, I can still see his face as if he was here in front of me this very moment) he smiled such a beautiful smile and started bouncing up and down on the mattress crying "mommmy mommy mommy" I rushed in and picked him up and he wrapped his little pale arms around my neck and layed his little head on my shoulder... and I took him home....
My Mom and Dad arrived on boxing day from my sister Peggy's house where they had spent Christmas that year, coming all the way from BC. They only stayed 2 days, and already David wasn't feel well again. I took him to the Barrhead hosp on Dec.28 in the morning...and they kept him in overnight...the next day...they phoned and said the Doctor wanted to send him back to Edmonton....but the ambulance (they only had one back then) was busy north of Swan Hills at a rig accident and they were going to send him in a taxi...did one of us want to go with him.... I said yes...but Sid decided we would drive him in ourselves....so we dropped Robbie off at his Babba's and picked David up at the hospital. When I got to his room he was laying in a crib crying...they didn't have him ready to go...so I dressed him in his light blue snow suit (it's Dec.) and we took him out to the truck...we started to drive to Edmonton and when we were passing through Westlock, right in front of the UFA store... I am not sure why...but I lifted the light flannel blanket I had over him to keep the chill off and he was blue and his eyes were glazed over.... I don't remember what happened right after that...I just remember Sid getting out of the truck and coming to open my door....then nurses were there and they were trying to take David from me and I wouldn't let him go....but they finally got a hold of him and took him away....later, in the waiting room the doctor came and asked us if we would like to see him one last time.... I took the little blue toque he was wearing, I still have it. But we had to bury our son and I remember thinking that this was going to be the hardest thing I will ever do in my life... and it has been, probably always will be.
My life changed a lot after that...the next year just went by in a blur, I don't remember any details... life was just so much more difficult...My husband drowned his grief with whiskey and I, with food. I remember the day the fog lifted, it was the spring of 1981, we had been at my sister in laws in Smokey Lake for the weekend and Robbie was not feeling well....on our way home Sid decided we should take him to the hospital...he had a bad fever... they wanted to keep him in overnight...and I remember yelling, crying and begging them to let me take him home...I promised I would do everything they told me but that I had to take him home....the doctor turned to my husband and asked if I was alright but then a neighbour of ours who was a nurse came and she explained to the doctor about David and he let us take Robbie home, with anti-biotics and stuff... I didn't sleep for two days...but he did get better.
I am sitting here with tears running down my face as I write this and I know that it should all be behind me, but he was such a sweet little boy and I feel so guilty that I didn't know enough to do more or make him better. Perhaps I trusted in the doctors too much, maybe I should have been more aggressive, I can only make excuses for why I wasn't, I was young and I think, a bit overwhelmed with two babies under 2 yrs. milking cows and market gardening, no family close by, a mother in law that only spoke Ukranian...and a husband to old, cranky and busy farming to deal with a sick baby
All I know is he was gone too soon and I can't help but think how different all our lives would have been had he lived. Robbie would not have been smothered to the point of helplessness by over protective parents at the very least.
I know lots of other people have lost children and my heart breaks for them too. But this is my blog, my dime and my memories. Thanks for listening.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAVID
Today is March 16th. Today there are a couple of birth days to mark. My sister Leslie, hope she has a great day, kinda sucks that it is mid-week, no time to celebrate. Happy Birthday sis.
The other person celebrating a birthday today would have been my son David, he would have been 31. OMG that makes me feel so old. David was born March 16 1979, he was the spitting image of his father Sid, with pale green eyes and light brown hair. I can't tell you too much about him since he didn't get a chance to live for very long...but I do know that he loved his mommy.
David didn't smile much but he always smiled when mommy came in the room. I carried him around with me most of every day. I had him at the doctors every two weeks I am sure.. no one could figure out what was the matter with him.. he just cried a lot and spewed his formula back up or had bad diahrea. David loved his 2 year old brother Robbie. Robbie would sneak into the babies room and try to feed him cookies and blow raspberries on his belly when I was changing diapers. David would giggle in that high pitched little baby voice that makes us all smile..and then pull Robbies hair. When David cried (which was a lot) Robbie would bring him some of his favorite stuffed toys and try to make him smile, lots of love for a two year old. David wasn't talking a lot at 10 months but he said Mommy, Dadda and Obby and yuk (probably because he heard us say that so many times when he threw up or had a messy diaper). He was weak, but he could stand up and take a few steps if he was hanging on to something... he loved to be outside...and I would take him out after lunch some days and sit with him under the maple trees...he would stare up at the light green leafs moving in the wind.
This is David with my Mom on boxing day.
Before Christmas that year our doctor had him admitted to an Edmonton Hospital, where they did tests and gave him a blood transfusion...they called Christmas eve morning saying we could drive in and pick him up... When we arrived at the hosp. and found the room...( I am not sure why I wasn't staying there with him, I would have if the option had been given to me) and Sid stayed at the desk to sign discharge papers and I went on to the nursery....the door had windows in it and I could see him standing in the steel crib with his hands on the top rail and his head bowed with his forehead resting on the rail...he looked so lonely and dejected...being the only baby still left there at Christmas...it made my heart break....so I tapped on the window and he looked up...and ( I will remember this part for the rest of my life, I can still see his face as if he was here in front of me this very moment) he smiled such a beautiful smile and started bouncing up and down on the mattress crying "mommmy mommy mommy" I rushed in and picked him up and he wrapped his little pale arms around my neck and layed his little head on my shoulder... and I took him home....
My Mom and Dad arrived on boxing day from my sister Peggy's house where they had spent Christmas that year, coming all the way from BC. They only stayed 2 days, and already David wasn't feel well again. I took him to the Barrhead hosp on Dec.28 in the morning...and they kept him in overnight...the next day...they phoned and said the Doctor wanted to send him back to Edmonton....but the ambulance (they only had one back then) was busy north of Swan Hills at a rig accident and they were going to send him in a taxi...did one of us want to go with him.... I said yes...but Sid decided we would drive him in ourselves....so we dropped Robbie off at his Babba's and picked David up at the hospital. When I got to his room he was laying in a crib crying...they didn't have him ready to go...so I dressed him in his light blue snow suit (it's Dec.) and we took him out to the truck...we started to drive to Edmonton and when we were passing through Westlock, right in front of the UFA store... I am not sure why...but I lifted the light flannel blanket I had over him to keep the chill off and he was blue and his eyes were glazed over.... I don't remember what happened right after that...I just remember Sid getting out of the truck and coming to open my door....then nurses were there and they were trying to take David from me and I wouldn't let him go....but they finally got a hold of him and took him away....later, in the waiting room the doctor came and asked us if we would like to see him one last time.... I took the little blue toque he was wearing, I still have it. But we had to bury our son and I remember thinking that this was going to be the hardest thing I will ever do in my life... and it has been, probably always will be.
My life changed a lot after that...the next year just went by in a blur, I don't remember any details... life was just so much more difficult...My husband drowned his grief with whiskey and I, with food. I remember the day the fog lifted, it was the spring of 1981, we had been at my sister in laws in Smokey Lake for the weekend and Robbie was not feeling well....on our way home Sid decided we should take him to the hospital...he had a bad fever... they wanted to keep him in overnight...and I remember yelling, crying and begging them to let me take him home...I promised I would do everything they told me but that I had to take him home....the doctor turned to my husband and asked if I was alright but then a neighbour of ours who was a nurse came and she explained to the doctor about David and he let us take Robbie home, with anti-biotics and stuff... I didn't sleep for two days...but he did get better.
I am sitting here with tears running down my face as I write this and I know that it should all be behind me, but he was such a sweet little boy and I feel so guilty that I didn't know enough to do more or make him better. Perhaps I trusted in the doctors too much, maybe I should have been more aggressive, I can only make excuses for why I wasn't, I was young and I think, a bit overwhelmed with two babies under 2 yrs. milking cows and market gardening, no family close by, a mother in law that only spoke Ukranian...and a husband to old, cranky and busy farming to deal with a sick baby
I know lots of other people have lost children and my heart breaks for them too. But this is my blog, my dime and my memories. Thanks for listening.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAVID
March 15, 2010
Rights of Passage
Some of the photographs you are about to see were taken by me, others were borrowed to use as visual aids.
It only seems fitting that we should once again have evidence that spring is here by having wild boar show up on our property again ! The year since our falling out with a good friend who used to come and shoot them and the pigs have figured out that we don't have hunting here anymore and have moved back onto our territory. I won't get into why our so called good friend is no longer a friend, let's just say it was about crossing boundaries and leave it at that.
Don't be deceived by how cute the babies are, they only stay like that for a couple of months
and then they look like this
The males can weight up to 300 lb. but average is about 200. The females slightly lighter. 3 litters a year: March, july and Nov, or there abouts. They just find a bunch of tall grass in the bush burrow down and the little ones live in there, they are very tough. Both male and female have the tusks at the sides of thier mouths, they use them for ripping the bark off trees and scoring the ground...then they use thier noses to dig and boy can they dig. When they find a soft spot in the field away from prying eyes they just have a hay day...this is what they did to a first year hay field for us back in 2005.
Back in the late 1990's the government encouraged farmers to diversify, some got into raising bison, elk, fallow deer, ostrich and some into wild boar. The reason behind that move was to derive our income from more than one product and the gov. would have to subsidize less, or so the theory went. The government made money available (in the form of grants) to farmers wanting to diversify in this way and lots of us jumped at it...the old "Carrot on a String" trick... The gov. shut the program down after only two years...too much money going out of gov. coffers. The big problem began when after buying the breeding stock to produce these diverse farm projects there was no one else to sell to and they had not had the foresight to build a market for thier product...Elk got the chronic wasting disease and were dropping dead like flies. Enough of the elk guys were big wigs or relatives of big wigs in gov...and got compensated for thier losses when the gov stepped in and destroyed 90 % of the farm elk population. The bison guys lost thier shirts and then some, with no one to bail them out...the ostrich guys, well you can only sell so many giant eggs to craft stores and then they were just turning the birds loose... the wild boar guys were the only ones who had actually created a market for thier product....wild game hunting facilities, where some macho redneck texas gorilla type hunter pays $500. for the chance to hunt and bag a wild boar, guaranteed...if you can't get one on your own we will corner one in the pen for you to shoot....ahahahha so you can mount him on your wall
There is only one problem with that, someone forgot to tell them that you can't fence in a wild boar...they will rip the wire apart, crash through the fence or dig thier way out...
So we have non native wild boar running around loose here, fouling our dugouts, ripping up our fields and wrecking grain crops and no one wants to do anything... Alberta put a bounty on thier heads...$50 for a pair of ears. We had every tom dick and harry out here shooting pigs or trying to.... the problem is they are very tricky, sneaky beasts...and nocturnal. Let's not forget they have been hunting these things in Europe for hundreds of years. Horses, dogs and men have been killed in the process because they don't just run away...if they feel threatened they will turn and fight....I have the dent in my truck door to prove it...
I was cutting willow sapplings to built a willow fence in my yard...I had cut several dozen sapplings and when I was done cutting I bent down to start gathering them up...and that is when I saw, under the tree canopy about 100 feet away a sow nursing about 10 piglets...she was sniffing the air...and grunting...(they don't see all that well at a distance but they hear and smell remarkably well). I think I shreeked and just like that she was on her feet and coming straight towards me....dragging some of the piglets with her since they hadn't let go of her teats....I didn't stick around to see what happened to them...I dropped the willows and ran to the truck...lucky for me I had left the door open, so I had just jumped in and slammed it shut when she thumped against the door...I started the truck and as I was driving out of there she hit the door of my truck twice more....she left a dent low down on the door....but I was safe....shit....I was scared. Since then I take the dogs with me when I go in the bush....for all the good it does. Last fall we were just out for a nature walk and they were running ahead of me on the trail of some poor easter bunny, when all of a sudden they came running back down the trail towards me...thier ears pinned back. They didn't even stop to think about defending me...oh no....the chicken shits just kept running the mile home...even after the pig ran off...that's right...there was a pig chasing them back down the trail...but when he came bursting through the trees and saw me...(he wasn't a very big one only a 100 lb.) he veered off the trail and went crashing through the bush. I had to finish my walk by myself. Ingrate dogs.... I carry my gun now...but it is a bother...hard to walk through the bush with a rifle strapped to your back. I used to go cranberry picking in the muskeg but that stopped the first year they came to our neck of the woods...since that is thier favorite habitat...they eat all the berries...bloody bastards.
So in my books the only good wild boar is a dead one, on a barbeque preferably.
March 13, 2010
The End at Last
At last the end has come, it was a short day today, we were done by 3 pm. With the exception of one looney toon young cow (a perenial thing with her, and yes she has a red star beside her number....) the rest of the animals were calm and quiet..even the bulls went through with no problems and no fights broke out, always a good thing where 2000 lb + bulls are concerned...
We all came inside for hot chocolate and cake and it was all over but the weeping...that comes after we pay the bill. I am sure it is a $2000. one, but it will save us time and money all summer long when we don't have to be treating cows with hoof rot.
I was told last night that if it is dry again this summer we will be doing a major culling of the herd...the last time we had drought and grasshoppers we sold 50 cows, cutting our herd to half and boy the next couple of years after that were tough going...working with only half the income we were used to. so it could be frugal times ahead for us. So keep your fingers crossed and send good weather karma our way...we need rain... If we do have to sell off some cows it will definitely be the kooks and bad feet that go first.
It is so dry here the past few years...it has become the normal and for the past 3 months our well has been pumping sand in the water...we have had to start using bottled water for drinking and cooking and I am very worried. We NEVER have well problems...
Well life can get back to the new normal here, next week we have to run the cattle through for vaccinations before breeding ...I wonder how many of them will forget the trauma of the last couple of days and come up for grain...ahahahahah the really old 15/16 yr old cows have long memories.
We all came inside for hot chocolate and cake and it was all over but the weeping...that comes after we pay the bill. I am sure it is a $2000. one, but it will save us time and money all summer long when we don't have to be treating cows with hoof rot.
I was told last night that if it is dry again this summer we will be doing a major culling of the herd...the last time we had drought and grasshoppers we sold 50 cows, cutting our herd to half and boy the next couple of years after that were tough going...working with only half the income we were used to. so it could be frugal times ahead for us. So keep your fingers crossed and send good weather karma our way...we need rain... If we do have to sell off some cows it will definitely be the kooks and bad feet that go first.
It is so dry here the past few years...it has become the normal and for the past 3 months our well has been pumping sand in the water...we have had to start using bottled water for drinking and cooking and I am very worried. We NEVER have well problems...
Well life can get back to the new normal here, next week we have to run the cattle through for vaccinations before breeding ...I wonder how many of them will forget the trauma of the last couple of days and come up for grain...ahahahahah the really old 15/16 yr old cows have long memories.
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