We had a very good harvest. There were very few wet days and all of our breakdowns took a very short time to get up and going again as Gregory either had the part on the shelf or it was just a short way away in Biggar.
He did have to make one trip late in the evening to Outlook, but they left the part out for him so he could pick it up after hours, and the next morning he got the machine fixed and going again.
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We did shut the combines down to attend Gregory’s Auntie Pat’s funeral in Unity on Sept. 19. She had been battling with cancer. It has been a rough year in terms of deaths in the family.
On Oct. 7 we finished our grain harvest. The crops were great this year and the grain is sitting in the bins, dry. It was a very good harvest.
The next day we switched gears and took the horses out to sort some sale calves off from their mothers. We needed to be able to sort the sale calves off and then move the cows over to the other pasture. Earlier this year the bull had jumped in with the neighbours’ cows, so after sorting him off we decided to move the whole herd over to the other side so there were two fences in between them. Gregory had built the cross fence last fall and it was very helpful for this year’s management.
Joseph got to ride for this little roundup and he was very excited. After we got the cows in the corral and had sorted and loaded the calves, we switched riders and James got to ride to move the cows over to the other side of the cross fence. Afterward we took the calves home and fed and watered them for their overnight stay.
The next morning, we loaded the sale calves and the horses and then went over to the Landis pasture to sort off more calves so that we would have a full load to take to Provost. Joseph got to ride again for the roundup and then, while Gregory and I sorted, he rode Reba around in the pasture showing Grandma and Grandpa his skills. Once we were loaded, we got the kids in the truck and headed for Provost. We always try to make it a family event when we take the calves to the sale.
On the 11th we had a beautiful day for digging our potatoes. John and Barb were away at a wedding and so it was just Gregory and I and the kids and a neighbour who stopped in to give us a hand. Joseph and James were pretty good help and Ian and Anna played together pretty well.
The next day it snowed. It was the first snow of the year and the kids were very excited! They worked together and made several little snowmen in the yard. The snow didn’t stick around very long but they did have lots of fun with it while they could.
On Thanksgiving we had a nice little meal with James’ godfather, Ron Hango. We all ate too much and visited quite late.
On the 14th we headed over to the Scott Hutterite Colony to pick up our horses. I had taken over three colts earlier in the summer for Willy to work with. He had done a nice job and had ridden them several times to check and move their cows.
Two days later, Gregory rode the three-year-old mare that Willy had worked with to round up some cows at Landis, to sort off the last of the sale calves. Gregory has always enjoyed riding, but his old mare has developed a stiff gait that hurts his back, so riding has not been as enjoyable for him as it should have been. Gregory loved the little mare. She moved very nice and was very responsive to cues. She was completely at ease going off to chase cows away from my horse and nothing bothered her. We even had a jackrabbit jump up right in front of us and she never even startled at it. Old Reba can now become the kids’ horse full-time and we will be taking more colts to Willy next spring.
On the 20th we loaded up the family and went just down the road to pick up our new tractor, a John Deere 4430. Danny and Sheila have let us keep a few horses in their pasture over the summer for several years now. When I take water to the horses, we usually stop and visit for a few minutes. When Dan mentioned he might sell some of his tractors, I mentioned it to Gregory.
Gregory and James went one evening to visit Dan and to take him some beef as a small thank-you for the use of the pasture. Gregory and Dan talked about the tractors and Dan gave us the opportunity to buy the 4430. It was a very exciting day to go and pick it up. We will be able to use this tractor to do a number of jobs, but perhaps the most exciting one at this time is that Gregory will be able to use it on the processor. He won’t have to use the open tractor to feed the cows and horses all winter. We are very appreciative of this opportunity and it was a treat that Gregory was able to just drive it home.
