My glamorous life.

I feel so privileged to not have a real job.  Instead, I get to stay home and do fun things like scrub the garbage cans (because my guys have as good an aim there are they do in the bathroom!)  But I also get to be home when my baby leaves for his first day of Grade 8.  I was informed last night that there would be NO pictures taken of his first day of school this year. None.  Nada.  End of discussion.  So you will just have to imagine the idyllic scene – 6 foot, husky ‘boy’ running out the door, almost forgetting his lunch and book bag, to get on the bus that was waiting in the yard (yep, the one he had heard drive down the road and then remarked “bus is here”).  I had to ‘lovingly’ rouse him from his bed an hour earlier, and then ‘lovingly’ remind him to not take too long in the shower as the house was filling with steam, and then ‘lovingly’ ask him to feed his dog (the one that has taken to sleeping in the front flower bed again).  Oh, what glamour.  My spidey sense is telling me that this is going to be another looooong school year.  That, and the talk mail informing us that there will be early dismissal the first Thursday of each month.  You know what tomorrow is?  The second day of school, and THE FIRST THURSDAY OF THE MONTH.  Seriously.  Early dismissal on the second day of school.  I think I will start a pool to see who can guess how soon I will receive the first “Mrs. Schraefel” phone call from the school.  Got to keep this glamorous lifestyle going!

Well, Stephen made it home from Australia – eventually.  My favourite national airline got him from Calgary to Sydney and back to Vancouver before deciding to make my life hell again.   We had gone to Calgary the night before he was to arrive, and knew he had landed in Vancouver at 9 in the morning.  The next text said he missed his connection, that he was on stand-by, and it would probably be 8:30 that night before he could get on a flight.  So, after spending $3000, we spent another $200 and got another, much easier-to-deal-with airline to fly him home.  I think I will start a Westjet fan club.   Just after he got home, he started looking for another place to call his own.  He and a buddy are renting a house in K-town, and he starts his sort-of-new job on Tuesday.  He is going back to work at Fort Nelson, where he had a summer job last year.  He works two weeks in and then has two weeks off, and they now have a charter flight out of Kindersley.  The only thing I’m too worried about is what he’ll do with two weeks off!

I’ve been spending some time at the lake.  Clem graciously got me a laptop (there’s that glamorous life again!) so that I could do the farm books while holidaying in the camper!  Actually, I’ve quite enjoyed it – lots of me time, in the fresh air, no mosquitoes, and hardly any other campers.  And I got the books caught up!

While I was lazing at the lake, Clem and the boys have been attempting to harvest.  It’s been swather tag around here – as Clem gets one swather going, the other one breaks down.  He said if we had any money he’d have bought a new one by now.  He probably could have with what he’s spent on parts!   The upside is that to keep the operators busy, the summerfallowing is also getting done.  Thanks, Adam!  The peas have been combined and are in the bin awaiting purchase by some lucky buyer.  They are really nice this year.  Derek is the newest combine operator on the Schraefel ranch, and is loving it.  He was just pumped when he got the call from dad to fill his water jug and head out!  Hope that excitement for the job lasts for a few years.

We have been enjoying the bounty from the garden again this year – corn, cucumbers, and tomatoes right now.  The freezer is full of beans, and the cold room will be stuffed with potatoes and carrots.  I grew kohlrabi this year for the first time – it will get planted again next year!  There is absolutely nothing like fresh garden produce!!

That’s about all the glamour for now.  Stay tuned for harvest pictures!
Thanks for checking in!
Chandra