Surprise! Our babies came early! Our newest family members were born on July 19th at 10:41 and 10:42 am at the Foothills Hospital in Calgary at 34 weeks gestation (6 weeks premature). Babies and Mom are doing great. Jacob (left) was born weighing 4 lb 11 oz and Elias (right) was born weighing 5 lb [...]]]>  

Surprise! Our babies came early! Our newest family members were born on July 19th at 10:41 and 10:42 am at the Foothills Hospital in Calgary at 34 weeks gestation (6 weeks premature). Babies and Mom are doing great. Jacob (left) was born weighing 4 lb 11 oz and Elias (right) was born weighing 5 lb 1 oz. They spent 2 days in the NICU at Foothills, then we were transferred to Red Deer Regional Hospital NICU. Babies are still in the Red Deer NICU and doing well. They are growing well and getting stronger everyday. Not to mention they are CUTE CUTE CUTE! Mark and I are staying at the Ronald McDonald House in Red Deer. Its a fabulous facility and we will be encouraging everyone we know to donate to them! What a great way to keep families together during the tough times. The store is still in full operation thanks to our handy butcher, Dale, and talented cook, Joann. Also, the Crossroads Market is still in operation (thanks to my parents!). My Mom and Dad have been holding down the fort where the farm is concerned and my inlaws have been super helpful by caring for our older 2 boys. Thanks to everyone who has expressed kindness, support, patience and understanding during this time. This truly is a family business and when family times are tricky it makes business a little trickier too. So a huge THANKS to those of you who have understood the “technical difficulties” that we are experiencing at this time.

Our wonderful matriarch Jersey milkl cow, Maude. She’s 11 years young and still going strong. She is a great-grandmother now, but still producing milk and loving life. I love this girl! Come visit the farm and try your hand at milking

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Brian Brett’s book is an amazing mash of philosophy-poetry-science-naked-in-the-woods-anecdotes. This is an amazing journey encompassing an 18-year-long day on Brett’s own farm, yet it spans the entire natural history of our earth, the growth of industrial agribusiness and his own [...]]]> Trauma Farm: A Rebel History of Rural Life by Brian Brett

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Brian Brett’s book is an amazing mash of philosophy-poetry-science-naked-in-the-woods-anecdotes. This is an amazing journey encompassing an 18-year-long day on Brett’s own farm, yet it spans the entire natural history of our earth, the growth of industrial agribusiness and his own resolve to keep “old school” farming even though he finds it a money losing proposition. I found it (for the most part) an inspiring and beautifully written love-letter to farm life. I did find it contained a surprising number of tales of mishap that revolved around him being caught in a compromising situation with wildlife in the moonlight wearing nothing but his gumboots and a smile. It was very entertaining and I LOVED the Canadian perspective as so many of the great foody/farming books out there are from the US perspective. I found this book a bit dense as it wasn’t a light read for me. I really had to have my brain “switched on” to absorb this one. It was well worth the read though.

Its been an exciting, albeit sad, week here at the ranch with our very own murder mystery. On Wednesday one of our Silver Appleyard girl ducks was found headless in the duck house. It was very sad and upsetting because the ducks are such [...]]]>

Great Horned Owl. Click to check out Hinterland Who's Who about this magnificant bird.

Its been an exciting, albeit sad, week here at the ranch with our very own murder mystery. On Wednesday one of our Silver Appleyard girl ducks was found headless in the duck house. It was very sad and upsetting because the ducks are such amicable little beasts, fussing over each other and babbling sweet nothings to us as we go about our daily chores. The loss of one of the “girls” was tragic and worrisome. We immediately set about researching the cause of death to determine what kind of predator would leave such a calling card: a headless victim without a trace. There are even fact sheets to help a farmer/detective ascertain which predator is the likely culprit.

We were able to narrow down our list of suspects quite quickly. Coyotes, foxes and skunks would be unable to gain access to the 6 foot high chainlink run. Racoons don’t reside in this area. This left our list of suspects to mink, weasel and owl. We were quite sure it wasn’t an owl, since owls usually take the prey with them and the likelihood of one being inside would be very slim. The dogs had an airtight alibi. They were asleep on the foot of my bed at the time of the murder. This left us with the likely suspect of a mink or weasel. We could not find one for questioning.

While our search for the suspect continued we stepped up security on farm by shutting the ducks into their duck house at dusk, covering the door with a heavy square bale to keep them safe. We unwittingly joked about locking the ducks in there with the predator. hahaha, ohhhh, aren’t we funny.

This morning Mark pulled the bale away from the entrance to release the ducks for the day and found himself staring eye to eye with the biggest set of yellow eyes he’d ever encountered. A second murder victim was seen, and the four remaining ducks were quite eager to get out. Can you imagine spending the night locked in your apartment with a serial killer?

We decided that something must be done about this captive murderer in our midst. Some were in favour of capital punishment due to the henious crimes committed towards our beloved ducks but cooler heads prevailed. It was decided that we should call the Medicine River Wildlife Rehab Centre to come retrieve the Great Horned Owl.  They were able to remove the owl who was the size of a baby with a massive wingspan. He was majestic and awe inspiring. He was malnourished and appeared to be a juvenile male that had not yet found a mate. The owl guru indicated that they would take him back to the centre for assessment, some “fattening up” and then return him to the wild. The fact that he’d taken up residence inside the duck house was very unusual, likely an indication of the state of his desperation. We hope he has a successful recovery and release. What a beautiful creature!! We wish him all the best and a long, productive life in the wild.  And here’s hoping we don’t see him back on the ranch.