What Reader did on his fall vacation!

What’s up, everybody?  Reader here, and after a couple more weeks of rest and relaxation, I was back to work bright and early this morning.

I won’t lie… after two weeks of no alarms and peacefully sleeping in (except when Dad needed me to give him a hand), hearing my alarm clocks start going off at 3 a.m. today was pretty jarring!

But hey, you have to get back to the real world at some point.  You can’t stay on vacation forever!

But what did I get up to on my time off?

Well, before heading home to the farm over Thanksgiving weekend, I spent the afternoon of the 11th doing some P.A. announcing, as the Yorkton Kinsmen Lady Gridders football team had a game.  And it was a beautiful fall afternoon, with great mid-October conditions for football.

Then, the next day, I headed for the farm, and what a difference 24 hours made.  The weather was gross all the way home.  I took the short way, heading straight west on Highway 52, which turns into Highway 15 at the Ituna corner.  From Yorkton to Raymore, it was rainy and cold all the way.  Then, after a brief pit stop in Raymore, it was nothing but snow all the way from Raymore to Conquest.  I didn’t snap a photo of the road conditions, but trust me when I say they were not fun!

Anyhoo, I made it to the farm, and on Thanksgiving Monday, we had pretty much the whole family there for Thanksgiving dinner, with my parents, my brothers and their families.  The only one who was missing was my niece Sofie, who was busy with ringette and labs (first year at the U of R!)

Then, on the 15th, we celebrated my Dad’s 69th birthday!  (Nice!)

On the 17th, my brothers Ward and Barrett joined my as we took in the Saskatoon Blades-Moose Jaw Warriors matchup at SaskTel Centre.

It was a rough night for the home side, as the Blades took it on the chin, falling 6-2, but after the game, my bros and I relaxed with a giant platter of nachos and a frosty beverage, so all was right with the world.  All we were missing was our brother Curtis, and it would’ve been a perfect evening!

On the 21st, I made another trip to SaskTel Centre (after all these years, it still feels weird calling it anything but SaskPlace!).  But this time, it was for something totally different, as I made the trip solo to see one of Canada’s greatest singer-songwriters, Sarah McLachlan, on her “Fumbling Towards Ecstasy” 30th anniversary tour, with special guests Tiny Habits.

I’ll get into more details with another blog later this week, but all I can say is it was an amazing show.  It’s one thing to hear Sarah sing on record or the radio, but to hear that voice live in person?  Wow.

Beyond that, I was helping Mom and Dad around the farm.

We dug up the rest of the potatoes and carrots out of the garden.

I don’t think any of us will have to buy potatoes for a while!

And I should say we dug the remaining carrots out of the garden, as even though there were lots left, this year, the coyotes have been raiding the garden at night, and they seem to love the carrots.  Maybe it helps them to see better when they hunt at night!

As well, we loaded and hauled calves to Saskatoon for auction, and I gave Dad a hand as we moved and stacked bales.  He ran the tractor and loaded the truck, while I drove the truck up and down the field.

We got around half of the bales moved, and would’ve had more if we didn’t have to make an unscheduled trip back to Saskatoon over the weekend to deal with a broken-down vehicle.  But, what do you do?  C’est la vie!

Oh, and before I left yesterday, I threw my winter tires on my car.  I’m not sure when I’ll get home again, and who knows what the weather will do between now and then!

Overall, it was a great two weeks off, and it was great to recharge the batteries!  Now, to get ready, as the sprint through the holiday season is looming!