Giving Thanks

I've just returned from a much needed weekend back home at the farm. In a shocking turn of events, there was no cattle work to be done. This was entirely the fault of the rain that muddied up our corrals, thus preventing us from giving our females vaccinations as was planned. I did, however, pay a couple visits to my lovely bovines and I am happy to report they're as content as ever. Chewing their cud and what-not.

Look! Cows!

It's Canadian Thanksgiving, so in the true spirit of the holiday, I thought I'd share a few things with y'all that this city-dwelling, education-getting, country girl is thanking her lucky stars for.

1. My family. It's not very often anymore that we get all three girls and my parents together in the same place. I'm grateful for the laughs my sisters and I have quoting silly YouTube videos and being able to sit down and brag to my parents about what I've been up to. My grandparents and their excitement over our latest adventures, as well as hilarious comments, always make the holidays special.

Rosie, Byron, Roberta, Carolyn, Jocelyn
Picture by the very talented (and coolest photographer I know), Grant Rolston 

2. My involvement in 4-H. I attended the Southern Alberta 4-H Regional Celebration on Friday night with my sister Jocelyn and my parents to be recognized for a scholarship. My ten year career as a 4-H member allowed me to build communication and leadership skills, and motivated me to pursue a career in agriculture. I am thankful for my years as a member and the fact that the program keeps giving back to me in the form of scholarships and opportunities as an alumni.

3. The farm. Living in a city full-time has truly made me grateful for my upbringing in agriculture. I enjoy the city and university life a lot, but nothing quite compares to the fresh air and open space back at home.

Happy place.

4. My education. I'm grateful to be pursuing an education in the field that I grew up in. I know this is what I was born to do, and I'm extremely grateful to be able to do it. I'll try and remember than next time I'm writing a history paper at 2 am and cursing my university (ahem..last night).

And just since four is a weird number for a list, I'm going to cap it off there. What are you thankful for?

Love Trials & Ecstasy

It's a book you probably haven't read. Most likely because there were only 15 copies ever made, and they all belong to members of my family.

It's my favorite book, and it was written by Joyce Templeton, my grandmother.

This book was the product of about five years of work and somewhere around 65 years as a farm wife on the section she, her two sons, and grandchildren call home today.

She wrote this book by the decade, starting with the 20's all the way up to 2010 when the book was published. It documents her life on a farm and ranch in southern Alberta through the dirty thirties, World War 2, secretarial school, and marrying the farmer she had always dreamed of.

In her younger years, Joyce went from secretary to checking seals on gas carriers for work. 

That farmer is George Templeton, who I spent seven short years with but continue to admire for his pioneer spirit and ingenuity as a rancher and farmer.

"As the passing years become more evident, I realized that one of the best memories I could leave behind was some stories of my life and experiences. In my heart I always knew it would be my goal to marry a farmer. I hope as you read my stories you can understand why." Joyce Templeton

She talks about the huge hit to cattle prices in the early fifties with Foot and Mouth disease in Great Britain, the enormous difference power lines made in their lives, and how she juggled three children, a farm, and a growing herd of Hereford cattle. She speaks of my grandpa's time as the Alberta Hereford Association President, hosting over 700 people at our farm during the World Hereford Conference in 1976, and travelling to New Zealand for the same conference in 1983.

(1951) "I remember two things about that fall: peeling potatoes in the grain truck while hauling wheat and caring for my firstborn son." In my eyes, this is the epitome of a farm woman. 

They became XTC Hereford Farms because they decided farming could either be "hell or ecstasy." I think naming it XTC has proved true. Our family was awarded the Master Farm Family award in 1969 after being judged on "right living, clear thinking, and good farming." Doran left to Olds College with every intention of returning to the farm, and Dad took a different path through the University of Lethbridge, but as fate would have it, ended up in the same place.

"These were trying times for us, but in farming we always believed that next year would be better." 

Reading her memoirs makes me extremely proud to be her granddaughter. I think it's a pretty good measure of a life if you can record each thing you've been through and accomplished for generations of your family to look at with pride.

Each grandchild has a page in the book. A few shots of me being little and cute, and
one of the only ones of me and Grandpa George(top right).

This is and will always be one of my most valuable keepsakes. It is an amazing story of the grandfather I never knew well and the grandmother who had a remarkably interesting and admirable life before she was "Grandma." It is a lesson in life, love, and survival in farming. Love, trials, and XTC.

Thank you, Dad.

This Father's Day, I'm honoring the man who made it possible for me to live the life I do. I love that I've had the opportunity to grow up in the country, and have cattle and farming be central to my life.

But this wasn't always how he thought it would end up.

Dad at 15

You see, my Dad grew up on the same farm we live on today. But at 18, he went to the University of Lethbridge to pursue a degree in...physical education. Yes, my Dad, the master of the pasture, the man who serves on about 7 different cattle and breed boards, and the ranch-roping fiend, at one point in his life, thought he was going to end up a gym instructor.

My Dad at his U of L graduation

When my Dad was 23, his older brother fell off a bale stack at the farm and broke both of his arms. Dad had finished his degree at this point and was travelling in Mexico with a high school friend. After hearing about his brother's accident, my Dad headed home back to the farm. He hasn't left yet.

Ranch roping is Dad's favorite new hobby

My father, always the cattleman, and his brother the avid farmer, worked out a succession plan between them and my grandfather. XTC Herefords incorporated, dividing the duties of the farm by the respective interests of my dad and uncle. This is still the system we have today, with my dad and our family primarily in charge of the cattle and my uncle and his family on the crop side.

So, here we are. A farm family that may not have been without a few special circumstances. And we couldn't be any happier that it worked out this way.

Here's how I thanked my Dad today:

It's a BBQ Brander- A mini branding iron for your beef!

Just slide the message in, heat on the BBQ, and brand!

I think Dad was pretty happy with it. Can't wait to use it on the steaks tonight!

Happy Father's Day Dad! And thank you for not becoming a gym instructor.