Days already starting to get longer

It’s the second week of January and we already are starting to see a small change in our daylight hours! Yay!
That is what I find the most difficult about winter–the dark being so long.
We certainly saw a lot of snow last week and it took two days to get things all cleaned up. Moving snow is not my favourite job and my dad was off in Florida, so I tackled as much as I could before my almost step-son came and spent most of a day finishing up the mess I made.
I think he was a little like my dad and enjoyed the time in the tractor. He made quite a nice trail for my cows, who still are using the bush as their homestead for now (I most likely will move them home around Jan. 21).
I spend a bit more time worrying about them now being heavy in calf, deep snow, and all. I always think it is a good sign when I get up and see the ravens trying to eat the pieces of grain and bird feed in the yard rather than on a cow that has got on her back and died.
But I’m thinking that unless the snow packs down a lot more than it has, I’ll have a job for my dad of clearing some snow in the yard before I move the cattle home.
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This was the girls’ year to be in Florida for Christmas but because of the way it landed, we were able to have them for the actual Christmas Day and then they were off.
Shane and I decided fairly last-minute to see if we could get a flight/room, etc. for my mom and dad to spend the second week with them. It all worked out and they were off to enjoy the Florida sun and Ellwood family.
They had a great time and though they didn’t say it directly, I think they would have stayed a little longer.
It also was great that they were able to take in a Jets’ game in Tampa Bay but by the sounds of it, they enjoyed every day.
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I was doing chores Sunday morning only to find a flat tire on the tractor (of course, it had to be the big back tire). It isn’t easy to get them off, loaded, repaired, and put back on.
Thankfully, we still have the ol’ Belarus. At least the job of loading and unloading will be somewhat easier.
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I finally took the time to try out this new gadget I received for Christmas: a “Soda Stream!” I’m not a water drinker, per se, but this is dubbed as “water made exciting.”
I set it all up and thought I had everything in place to give it a whirl. Alas, when I pushed the start button, I flooded my kitchen with water (guess I didn’t have the bottle in the correct position).
I promptly cleaned up the mess and re-positioned the bottle–and successfully carbonated some water.
The next step is to add some flavour. I read how much to add but didn’t continue to read that you should add it very slowly. So I dumped it in and re-flooded the kitchen–this time with orange flavoring.
Needless to say, I gave up on the “Soda Stream” for the day.
The next morning, I thought I would start fresh and make another bottle. Since I learned a few lessons from the day before, things went quite well (but even still, I did everything over the sink).
Marlee had bought me a new water bottle, and was excited at how cold it will keep drinks, so I thought I would put my new batch of water in it.
I was working in my office and decided I’d better go and sample my drink. I pulled it out of the fridge, turned to walk towards the office, opened the lid, and the carbonated drink gushed across the entire kitchen and living room—and even was spilling down the living room window.
So though I wanted to toss the entire thing out the window, I did the right thing and just cleaned it all up.
Rest assured, I will take a few days before I make “water exciting” again. Exciting it is.
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The Rainy River Cattlemen’s Association will hold its annual meeting on Thursday, Jan. 19 at Our Lady of the Way School in Stratton.
Please attend as we look forward to hearing from everyone to plan for our upcoming year.