Agribition 2011: High Country Cattle

I realized that I had no shared all my Agribition photos with you, so my goal is to get through them this week. We had a great show at Agribition and were able to meet some new friends and see some old ones as well. It is the people and friendships in the Simmental breed that make it as strong as it is today.

Our stall

Dad doing some clipping on First Time

Once of First Time's last meals. He is now weaned from his mother

Christmas Cards

I am not really that big on Christmas cards, however, this year we all wanted to go together and take a picture of us roommates to send out to some family and friends. We pulled on our ugly sweaters and had some fun. Can't wait to see the finished product, but here are some samples for now!

Harley the Hedgehog

This weekend after getting home from the farm, we had a new visitor to our house. Growning up I always wanted a hedgehog. I thought that they were so cool and would make a great pet.

Shaun was being the delivery guy for this hedgehog dropping it off at a friends house. But until he could get to the friends house, he got to spend the night at our house!

Meet Harley

I never really knew what there attitudes were like, just that I thought they were really cute. Turns out they are not so friendly, and very poky. Notice the heavy gloves Shaun has on.

The coolest thing about them is that their defence is to curl up in a ball. When they are hiding you cannot tell top from bottom and make a perfect little ball. Plus with their poky quills they are protected from predators.

Although Harley was fun to have for 1 night, I am sure glad that I never did get a hedgehog. They are extremely boring and just not good or fun pets!

The Passing of a Legend

Yesterday the cattle industry lost a great friend in Walk Browarny.

Our family got to know Walt as he was always the go to photographer for any cattle events we attended. You would always run into him at the picture backdrop after your class, or walking through the barn at the Calgary Stampede.

Over the years I have heard countless stories of Walt. I will always remember him as a extremely talented photographer, a true friend to the cattle industry, and a man that would sometimes be a bit grumpy but had a heart of gold underneath his tough skin.

Both Crystal and I had the opportunity to work with the Browarny crew at shows. I always enjoyed being able to work alongside Walt and learn. I can remember helping at 4-H on Parade one year. I had never photographed anything other then beef cattle, but we would get me to help with the horses, sheep, and dairy cattle, just so I could get the experience and learn. He was always patient and there to answer any questions I had.

Walt has taken thousands of beautiful photographs over the years. However, there are 2 that will always stick out in my mind. They may be old now, but they are just as meaningful and beautiful as they were when he took them.

Parisien, the first Simmental bull in Canada

An icon Walt Browarny photo of ranching in Alberta

This January I Am Angus did a feature video on Walt and his involvement at the National Western Stock Show in Denver. It really does capture Walt at his finest and doing what he loved the most.

New Arrivals & Friends

I know I have been sharing my weekend adventure with 'the Eng" for the past couple of days, but the truth is that in the last couple weeks there has been a new many come into my life.

Meet Stanley Christopher Walter. He is the new son of 2 of my best friends Chris and Bethan. Lil Stanley was born on June 28th early in the morning, and I got to wake up to a call from Bethan that morning with the announcement of their new arrival.

Although I am not a fan of children I have to admit that this guy is pretty cute. I don't think that he looks like either one of them right now, but I am sure with time that will change.

This weekend I am headed out to see the new family and hang out with the little guy. Don't be expecting pictures of me holding the little guy next week though... I do not hold babies!

Happy Canada Day!

Just wanted to say a quick Happy 114th Canada Day to our country and all my fellow Canadian's. Hope everyone enjoyed their day off and was able to celebrate with family and friends.

I see this video this morning and thought that it was perfect for today!

Swing and a Miss

This last weekend we decided to get a round of golf in. The weather has not been that great for golfing as the rain keeps coming, so we wanted to take full advantage of a nice day.

So far this year I have golfed more then I have any other year. Being in Edmonton, there are so many courses to chose from, and so we have played 6 different ones so far. It was supposed to be 7, but last night we got rained out after a crazy storm that hit the city.

My big goal for golf this year is to score under 100. This is the first real year where I have golfed 18 holes, before it was just 9 that we would do. 100 is a pretty good score for the average golfer. Take into account that I have never had a lesson, just worked off of tips from friends and family, and 100 is an even better score!

"The Eng" showing us how it is done

Part of my problem in the past is that hardly any of my friends know how to golf, or just don't enjoy it like I do. This was all solved when my roommate Brett decided she wanted to take up the game. She has even bought her own clubs now, and we try to hit the course at least one a week, weather permitting.

Brett trying to stay out of the water.

The other thing that has really helped is that "the Eng" loves to golf! He is a really good golfer himself and has been able to help me with my game this year.

I think the best part about golfing this year has just been getting out with friends and having a couple of laughs. I am a highly competitive person, but with golf it doesn't seem so much about winning as you are only competing with yourself. Plus who can get mad or not be having fun when you have views like this!

AB Simmental Tour 2011

This weekend we went on the Alberta Simmental Tour. The tour was held in the Rimbey/Bentley area this year, and it was a beautiful day to get outside, look at some cattle, and visit with old and new friends.

The tour started at Lockhart Valley Simmentals. We toured their herd of cattle, seeing a pen of replacement heifers, as well as a set of cow/calf pairs with bull calves. Tina and Lee, the owners raise traditional, red and black cattle. It was great to see a mix of what the Simmental breed can do.

Next we headed over to Darryl & Anissa Friessen's farm. Here we see a set of their commercial cow/calf pairs. They are just commercial breeders, but use a lot of Simmental genetics in their herd, including AI'ing their females to purebred Simmental bulls to get  the best genetics possible.

The final stop was at Beechinor Bros Simmentals. We have become very good friends with this family over the years, as we have bought 2 herd sires with them. The Beechinor's are great people, and showed us a set of yearlings, cows with heifer calves, and cows with bull calves. It is neat to go through their cattle, as they have many of the same genetics as us, because of the 2 bulls we have bought. Beechinor's also raise traditions, reds and blacks, so again it was a great cross section of the breed.

In the final field that we toured I found an old friend of mine. In 2005 during the World Simmental Congress we sold the pick of our herd in the sale. Beechinor's were the buyer of this lot, and ended up picking a 2yr old of mine that I had bought as a heifer calf. Paradise was not the most friendly show cow, but she sure has done well for herself both at Beechinor's and having a few daughters at our farm.

Paradise at 7yrs old.

It was a great day, and the rain held off for the most part. We will be sure to take part in it again next year, as it is a great way to really see what the breed and breeders have to offer.

Golf Courses

One of my favorite summer activities is golfing. It started about 3 years ago, and I have been hooked ever since. After my first round I went and bought my own clubs and have never looked back. 

Not a lot of my friends golf, so it started out going with the family on the weekends. Now it has turned into a weekly thing for me to do, and there is nothing better then hitting the course or the driving range after a long day at work, or on a relaxing weekend.

One of my other favorite things about golfing is just getting out and enjoying the course. Golf courses are really beautiful, and this year I have been able to play 4 new courses, and have enjoyed each one of them.

Millwoods Country Club

Victoria Park Golf Course & Driving Range

Black Bull Country Club

 

Dorchester Golf Course

Murder on Simpson Drive

This weekend we held our 2nd Annual Murder Mystery party. With so many friends having birthdays around the same time, it is a great time for us to all get together before the summer and have some fun. This year's theme was 80's Rock Stars!

White Owl

This week my good friend Shaun celebrated his birthday and he also finished getting his second diploma from NAIT. To celebrate his graduation his class is throwing a dinner at the hotel I work at.

I thought that I should get something to congradulat him on this big acheivment. I thought about it, and then suddenly it came to me.

A few months ago all Shaun could talk about was this new whiskey that he found. Rye/Whiskey is a very common drink here in Canada. Sure in the US you have Crown Royal, but until you try a drink of Gibbson's you have never tasted pure heaven, or liquid candy!

This new whiskey was called White Owl. It is an undyed rye/whiskey that is pretty high end, about double of what Crown Royal is worth. Shaun raved about how good this drink was, but because he is a college student, he didn't really have the budget to buy himself any.

Needless to say, this is what was waiting in his hotel room for him when he arrived at the hotel tonight.

Hope you enjoyed Shaun and thanks for sharing!

28. Go on a road trip with no predetermined destination

Well another item stroked off the 101 in 1001 list. This time it was go on a road trip with no predetermined destination.

This trip was completely unplanned to start. I jumped in my car, didn't know what was gonna happen, but I knew I would be having a good time regardless. Fast forward 7.5hrs and I was on a back road stuck in a truck with 4 other people waiting for the tractor to pull us out. Let me start from the beginning though.

So I jumped in my car and made the 2 hr drive to a small town to visit some friends. We didn't really have any plans so we had a few drinks and played a little rock band, when the idea came to take the MPV van out for a little drive. When we got to the van, lets just say it wasn't in the best shape ever. But that was what made her so great.

Fast forward about 15 mins, and we had splashed through some pretty sweet puddles, and were now at the end of a lease road with the MPV at a stand still, she had died on us for the night. After getting it pulled back to the yard we thought that round 2 should be attempted, this time with a 1 ton superduty truck.

The truck lasted a good while, we hit few different roads, had some laughs along the way, and just a solid night, still no predetermined destination, just having fun was the only goal.

Looking back we may have needed one more goal for the night... Not to get stuck a second time. After attempting to go a little to deep on a road that we probably shouldn't have this is what happened.

It may not look deep, but it was. We were stuck and no getting out. So we called for help and an hour of so later the John Deere tractor showed up to pull us out of the snow.

We got out, and headed back home with the road trip complete. This roadtrip turned out to be a real fun night, and one that I need to do more often!

#28 is now compete

Famous Twice Baked Potatoes

My good friend Bethan is an amazing cook. She always does large dinners for 10-20 people and doe an awesome job. Recently she has given up some of the power in the kitchen and allowed for others to help. My contribution is always to make the potatoes for the meal.

My favorite kind are twice baked potatoes. Although this receipe usually calls for them to be dished back into the shell, I put my own twist on the recipe and I think it makes them better anyways.

Start with some large potatoes. I like to judge about 1 potato for each person. If they are super big ones, go with 1 for each 2 people. Wash them real good and then wrap them up in tin foil

Set your oven to 350 degrees and throw them in the oven for about 1 hour, or until cooked. Once they have cooled slightly, unwrap, cut the tops length ways and scoop out the insides. You can try to save the shells, but I like them better without. Your choice.

This is where they get real good. Mix in the butter, sour cream, bacon bits, milk, cheese and green onion is you choice. I don't like green onion so I don't use it. Mix it up real good. I like mine a little lumpy, but whatever consistency you like then go for that! Then either scoop it back in the shells, or into a casserole dish. Throw it back in the oven just long enough to reheat.

 
Take it out and serve. Whatever is left over put in the fridge, as this makes some great leftovers!

 Recipe (makes 8 servings)

Ingredients

• 4 large baking potatoes
• 8 slices bacon
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1/2 cup milk
• 4 tablespoons butter
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese, divided
• 8 green onions, sliced, divided

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. Bake potatoes in preheated oven for 1 hour.
3. Meanwhile, place bacon in a large, deep skillet. Cook over medium high heat until evenly brown. Drain, crumble and set aside.
4. When potatoes are done allow them to cool for 10 minutes. Slice potatoes in half lengthwise and scoop the flesh into a large bowl; save skins. To the potato flesh add sour cream, milk, butter, salt, pepper, 1/2 cup cheese and 1/2 the green onions. Mix with a hand mixer until well blended and creamy. Spoon the mixture into the potato skins. Top each with remaining cheese, green onions and bacon.
5. Bake for another 15 minutes.

Times are a Changing!

We have been having a lot of changes happening around the house lately. Yes the snow is finally starting to melt, and spring cleaning has been happening, but we have also been seeing some new faces around the place.

Last May we had a 3rd roommate move into the house. I grew up with Kristen and danced with her for years, and Brett knew her through mutual friends (crazy how small this world is). We have had lots of fun having Kristen in the house. She is in her last month of medical school, and will be a full doctor in just a couple of weeks! It has been great having a resident doctor (literally) as both Brett and I are not so fond of hospitals....

As we spend the last month with Kristen in the house, we have welcomed a new roommate into our ever growing house. Brett's younger sister Jenna was selected to be part of the 2011 Edmonton Eskimos Cheer Team! Jenna is just finishing up her schooling in Red Deer, and is moving stuff into the house each week. Our basement is officially being transformed into a livable space not just storage...

Brett and I have been living vicariously through Jenna as she is pretty much a rock star now. The stories that she has from the cheer team already are pretty cool. Yesterday she had her first official photo shoot as an Esks girl!


Looking hot Jenna!