Let Me Explain...

I will not make excuses, I will only tell you facts. Facts from this past weekend, so here we go.

Sunday the weather was beautiful. My future father in law, Brent, has been planning for some time now to get the calves branded. It was the perfect day, maybe even a little bit too hot for being outside, in the burning sunshine. Brent mentioned that he can't ever recall the weather being as nice when he has branded in the past. Normally it's too windy, rainy, or just plain miserable. But, with no wind, no rain, and sunshine galore (not to mention temperatures of at least 20 degrees), we couldn't pass up the day.

We started out rounding up all the cattle; making them all gather in the corral. Some of them, at the very far other end of the property had quite the hike. This cow and calf in particular made my heart ache.

The poor mothers full utter was wagging back and forth with each exhausting step she took, she just wanted to rest the poor thing. Her calf looked a little worse for wear as well. I eventually decided he couldn't hack it any longer, and he got put in the box of the truck.

For awhile I sat there in the box with the calf and Dalton drove. Then the misquitos were attacking me too badly, and I got to drive. Mak (the border collie) was my passenger for awhile.

Once all the cattle (all except that calfs mother) were in the corral, the "cutting" began. Justin, Brent, Dalton and Brian were in the corral, sorting out cattle; looking at the tags and shuffling them around.

Eventually it got so there were only the calves in the one corral, all in the shoot that lead up the the branding table.

Now, this was my first experince branding, and let me tell you, oh my, what noise! The cattle all in one area like that - wow, what a commotion! Every once in a while they'd all stop bellyaching; all at once, for no reason - then one would start mooing again, and they'd all join in. I do not know how Salt (the cat) was able to sleep with all the noise, but I saw him curled up a few times, dozing off.

I really have a soft spot for the little calves. Especially when they're just days old! This is the same little guy that we lugged around in the box for awhile.

This is seriously my favorite picture I think I've ever taken. Think I'm going to enlarge it, print it off and frame it for Brent soon. Maybe a good Christmas present; maybe a just because "slurpee" (just what Justin and I call out of the blue cheap gifts - it's a long story!).

Getting things all heated up. At this point I remember thinking "too many irons in the fire" - I'm telling you, the sun affects my head!

I felt so bad for my little friend. He was so exhuasted, and hungry. I requested that he be one of the first to get branded, so he could go find his mumma and get some nurishment!

Once the little babe was out of the branding table, I walked with him for a bit, helping him get going again. I returned back to the action, only to look out into the field and find him all by his lonesome in the completely opposite direction as his mumma was. I went back out again to help him (did I tell you he wrapped his hoof around my heart?). When I got him headed in the right direction once again, I headed back. When I lifted my foot up on one stride I realized there was a board attached to by foot, by a nail that had entered my shoe. Oh, then the pain set in - I stepped on a rusty nail. Yes, wonderful. I shook off the board with the nail and slowly limped back. I sat in one of the trucks, and investigated my injury. All I could think was about the last time I got a tetanus shot back in Junior High (I had a big bulge in my arm where the needle went in, and it hurt really badly, feeling like the skin would burst at any second. When I went to the doctor, he said some people don't need the shot as often; the vaccine stays with some longer than others. He said next time I needed a tetanus shot to first be tested to see if I actually required it; you guessed it, I'm not a fan of needles.). I decided I was just going to make my trip to the hospital later on, and I'd just sit in the truck cab until the branding had finished.

The next thing I knew, Brent's friend, Bill, who was the one administering the vaccine to the calves, got jabbed in the finger with the needle. Apparently the calf jerked his head, and he poked himself. I heard Brent saying he'd heard of people having bad reactions to the calf medication, and suggested Bill head to the hospital. Well, we could kill two birds with one stone I figured, so the two of us took off together to the Emergency room.

I thought Bill was the one in the worse shape, but it turned out to not be a big deal; the doctor was just concerned that none of the vaccine made it's way into him (no more than a few drops anyways). I on the other hand got X-rays to make sure no parts of the nail were in my big toe, and to make sure it wasn't broken; and I got a couple pills to dull the pain. I told the doctor about my last tetanus shot, the reaction I had, and how I should first be tested to see if I needed it. She did some research and discovered the test had to be sent away and could take as long as 7-10 days to get results back - and she reasoned I could be dead in that amount of time; if I was okay with it, she was okay with giving me the shot - needless to say I got the shot! They bandaged up my toe, and sent Bill and I on our way.

After spending two hours in Emergency, and a long day out in the sun, I was wiped by the time Bill and I got back to the farm. We all enjoyed a yummy supper, and Justin and I headed home shortly after. My tetanus arm feels exactly the same as last time I got the shot; sore is an undestatement. Last night I took half of a Tylonal 4 just to help dull the pain so I could get a decent nights sleep. I was pretty groggy this morning, but it did help. I find the morning and nights are the worst for my arm; I put ice on it at night, and rest my hand on my head a lot during the day to elevate my arm. Seriously, since turning 25, I've spent a lot of time at the doctors, and now in the Emergency room. I would like to stop getting hurt and not be in pain!

And there you have it, facts as to why there was no Monday Challenge this week. (And I was just too wiped last night to write this post).

Two Weeks In A Row

Nope, no Monday Challenge this week either. I made an honest attempt tonight, believe me. I haven't been feeling all that well lately. There seems to be a cold brewing up in my system - I'm trying to win the battle. When I pulled out my supplies earlier, I knew I had no inspiration, and it kind of hurt to think about what I could do with the products.

Once again, I'll try for next Monday: when I plan to be back in the game, and on the ball!

May Long Weekend

It's just the way things turned out: there's no Monday Challenge for today. Originally my plan (I seem to say this a lot) was to get home at about one, then unpack our camping stuff, upload a couple photos to Walmarts website, get them printed, pick them up and start scrapbooking. We did leave the campsite so that we had plenty of time to get everything done, but there was a call on the way home that threw the wrench into my plans. Brent (my future father in law) called and need a peice of farm equipment welded. (Justin's a journeyman welder.) So we set off to the farm to get it fixed up. It's never a short trip going to visit, and we got home a little over an hour ago!

Now, let me start back at the beginning of this weekend. Justin was trying to prove a point to me, and had told me he wasn't going to help me get my things ready to go camping (he had to work out of town). This plan worked for him until Thursday, when he realized I wasn't going to have enough time to get everything finished that I needed to. He got a haircut, and I went grocery shopping right accross the parking lot - when he was finished he met me in the store and we finished up together. Back at home that night, I was busy for a good three hours in the kitchen; cutting up veggies, making quinoa, making cucumber salad, and getting my food ready to be packed. Honestly, I can't believe how much I had to do to pack for the weekend - and it was only one person going!

I left home Friday at about 6:20, got to the campsite at about seven, and visited with my parents and aunt and uncle until my tent buddy arived, about 45 minutes later. There was a few different spots we could set up our tent, and since I was going to be sleeping in the tent with Brittany, I wanted to make sure she was happy with the location! She chose the spot that I wanted, and we went to setting up our sleeping quarters. When Justin wanted to teach me a lesson with packing, I decided I was going to be Miss Independant for the weekend, so when it came to setting up the tent, I was all in.

I'm pretty sure we were all really excited to be out camping with one another (my other cousin - Brittanys younger sister Kas, Kas's boyfriend Evan, and Brittany):

This is a crazy firepit/lawn mower contraption, that we thought my dad had built and brought along. Turns out he's not the only crazy handyman, and it belonged to the campground.

Part of my independance meant making my own meals. I decided to document my creativity and culinary skills to show Justin. I did forget to snap a photo of my supper Friday night, which was a smokie and bun with a handful of chips and cucumber salad. This is my breakfast Sunday morning:

The weather this weekend wasn't nearly as nice as it was last weekend, but that's May Long for you! It was quite windy, and only about 10-15 degrees. My mum even let Brittany and I borrow a space heater for our tent, which kept us nice and cozy! We went over to my aunt and uncles campspot that had a wind fence built behind it Saturday afternoon. Behind the wind fence it was pretty nice, so we made ice cream.

Not having Justin, and our trailer out camping was really odd. I honestly felt a little lost; like an orphan. I just migrated back and forth between my parents trailer and Brittany and Kas' parents trailer. When I told Gloria I felt that way one night by the fire, she said she didn't mind at all! Brittany and Kas were always wanting me to eat with them, so a few times I'd make my food and bring it over to their trailer to eat with them. One of my least favorite parts about not having our trailer, was not having a bathroom to call my own, and using the outhouse and shower house - but it did have a mirror to take a photo of myself.

My lunch Saturday (pea pods, and my pre-made quinoa with a Mike's hard):

Saturday night I was supposed to eat a pork chop that I had marinated in teryaki sauce with sliced red pepper, onion and pinapple with rice. My parents had made lots of food, and my mum suggested I share their supper (chicken breast with salsa and cheese, sweet potatoes, homemade dill bread and broccoli with sun dried tomato dressing):

Sunday, before eating breakfast (my extravegant porkchop meal - I wanted to use it up) we all hung out in the trailer and watched a movie (21). I've got to say, it's pretty nice to sit inside where it's warm when the wind is whipping outside!

After breakfast "us kids" hung out in the trialer some more, and played a few card games. We played a bit of poker, using toothpicks as chips. And then, a new game was invented: guess how many toothpicks will be stuck to my cheek when I put my cheek on the pile of toothpicks. I think we may have had a touch of cabin fever!

Justin had texted me Saturday night, telling me the job that they were working on was rapping up early Sunday morning. He decided once he made it home, he'd come out with the trailer in tow, and arrived at the campsite around three. While we were showing my aunt and uncle (Kas and Britt's parents) our new trailer I took this photo; it just so happens to be the only picture I took of Justin out camping this trip!

Mine and Brittany's impromtu photo shoot this morning (right before we started taking down the tent, we decided to lay on the bed in there together in the sunshine, we were both missing each other as bed buddies from the night before when I went to sleep in the trailer):

Then, the weekend of camping came to a close. We all said our goodbyes, and headed back home to our respective cities. Shortly after leaving is when we got the call from Brent about needed the weld job. He felt bad, saying he interupted our weekend - but there's nothing nicer than getting out to the farm. Even just for a little while.

That was our May Long this year. Next week, we'll be back to our regularly schedualed programming with the Monday Challenge!

It Was Strawberry

Have you ever had a bubble tea? If not, get you butt to your local vietnamese restaurant and get yourself one! Seriously, one of the most interesting drinks I've ever had. The first sip I got a few tapioca pearls, and thought it was delishous. Such a chewy texture, like gummy candies - which I love. Not at all gross (as I was informed by someone at work before I tasted it), I'll spare you the details of his discription. A few more sips and I didn't like it; something was a little bit different about it.

After taking most of the afternoon to drink it (it wasn't slushy by the time I was done), I'm hooked. I want another right now. Next time I make it down there, I'll try another flavour; and no, I did not plan for it to match my outfit!