We're back....

So apparently we are supposed to be keeping this thing updated. Even with the best of intentions, we have been remiss and well... its now February. So in one (hopefully not too long) post, I will try and squeeze everything in.

Firstly, Europe was amazing. Check out the photos on Facebook to see where we went. From Bristol to Bath, Paris, London, Oxford and all the other random places in between we had a blast. The trip culminated in James planning a very romantic night in London - a suite at The Savoy, dinner at the Royal Opera House and a performance of Swan Lake. Needless to say we cant wait to go back.


When we got home, it was straight back to work for James. There was spraying and haying to be done
 which the rainy July weather had put on hold. I was looking after Cody & Kristine's kids for a few weeks which was a lot of fun. Less than a month later we were heading down to Lake Koocanusa in Montana for a few days on the lake with Cody, Kristine & kids. Long days that didn't get dark till well after 10, spent sun baking and jet skiing and fishing on the lake.

On the Lake

September quickly came around meaning my birthday was here. September is Harvest time in Canada so we had dinner and cake in the field. James sent me flowers at work and bought be a beautiful Jewelery box. This was also when I started my new job - Accounts Analyst at Bank West in High River. It is a fantastic job and I absolutely love working there.

October came and Harvest was well over halfway done. The cooler weather was arriving along with the beautiful fall colours. James and I celebrated our first anniversary towards the end of the month with a beautiful dinner and stay in Calgary. (if you can't tell by now - James spoils me A LOT) We also saw our first Halloween, with all the cute little kids coming trick or treating. I felt sorry for their parents when I saw the size of some of their hauls - entire pillowcases full! One of our friends told us about one kid that came to his house. He commented to the kid about the amount of candy he had to which the kid replied - 'this is nothing, we haven't even hit up the good houses yet'.

Harvest

November and December were quieter months for James, with mostly grain hauling and shop work. Winter had arrived and we had seen our first snowfall on October 31. It snowed on and off throughout November which meant that we had to get all the winter necessities including emergency kits, winter tires, hand warmers and thermals. Driving in the snow is something very interesting and I now understand why everyone drives so slow after doing a rather spectacular spinout on my way to work. James uses the loss of traction to his advantage to turn around in the mornings. We also celebrated another milestone with James having his 25th birthday on the 12th of December. We had a nice dinner and John Deere cake for him on the weekend. Not to be outdone, I got him a Marlin 30-30 rifle which he was very happy with.

December came around far quicker than we expected and all of a sudden, James parents Richard and Suzie, were on their way for Christmas. It had been consistently snowing throughout December, so there was a beautiful white covering all over High River until about a week before they got here when the cold weather decided to take a break. The whole time Richard and Suzie were here it didn't get below -15, even in the mountains. That is t-shirt weather to us but I suppose that is as cold as many Australians would like.

James and I at the Ice Bar having Hot Chocolate

We finished work on the 23rd and drove up to Lake Louise on the 24th where we stayed for three nights at the Chateau Lake Louise. It was absolutely amazing, with an ice castle on the lake, ice skating, a frozen outdoor bar, sleigh rides, frozen waterfall and a stunning hotel. True to form, James spoiled me again, getting me a Macbook Air, a Fortnum and Mason tea set and a set of pearl earrings. And to top everything off it was snowing on Christmas! The hotel was done up in a spectacular fashion and we had a wonderful Christmas dinner. After that, it was on to Banff for 2 nights, including a day of skiing at Norquay.

On the Staten Island ferry

On the 29th we headed back to High River for one night before we flew out to New York the following morning. We spent 7 nights in the city that never sleeps and had a fantastic time. We stayed in an apartment two blocks from times square which is like dusk 24 hours a day. And it is true that everything is open all the time - we were wandering around till 4 in the morning and all the shops, bars and restaurants were open and full. Throughout the week we went to Saks, Bergdorfs, Macys, Bloomingdales, Tiffanys, the Empire State, Statue of Liberty, World Trade Center Memorial, Central Park, The Met Museum, Wall Street as well as wandering all over the UES. I had my hair done at Bergdorfs and we had dinner at the Metropolitan club on 5th Avenue overlooking central park.We spent New Years at The Australian which was full of English people.

James parents went back to Australia on the 9th and we were back at work that day. January flew by and we only had one week of -40 which was PAINFUL. The weather forecast is predicting lows of about -5 for the next two weeks so fingers crossed no more -40!

Well thats all for now - we will try and not cram so much into the next post. Hope everyone is great - we miss you all!!!

James & Jess

A trip to Bath....

After we had gotten over our jetlag somewhat, we decided to spend a day in Bath, 15 minutes from Bristol. We were expecting a very small country town and were very surprised when we arrived. It looked exactly as it would have done in Jane Austens' day (Bath and surrounds is where Austen based many of her books). The only differences were cars instead of carriages and the clothes being sold in the stores.

We spent a few hours just wandering around, going in and out of stores (including Gieves & Hawkes - in hindsight maybe we should have avoided that particular store ;-) ). After having lunch in a bar that served Bundy Rum, we visited the Assembly Rooms & the Fashion Museum, which had an incredible collection of clothes, some of which were hundreds of years old. Queen Victorias black dress was one of the highlights of the dresses on display. Finally, we worked our way up to The Circus & then the Botanical Gardens which were absolutely magnificent.

While in Bath a second time, we visited the Thermae Spa (www.thermaebathspa.com) It consisted of four levels of luxury. A rooftop spa with natural spring water heated to 45 degrees, which looked out over the rooftops & rolling hills of Bath was the first stop, followed by a steam room with 5 separate sections, each with its own essential oils filling the air. Of course we chose the Eucalyptus room. Then, after a quick afternoon snack (still in our swimmers & bathrobes) we headed down to the lower pool which had currents that gently moved you around while you floated away. It was incredibly relaxing, as you can imagine.

As it was getting late, we decided to head home. It took us 15 minutes on the motorway to get there in the morning but our GPS was a little bit special and decided that it would be better if we took the scenic route - nearly an hour in all. If we didn't need to get home to go out for dinner, it would have been lovely - we certainly saw a lot of the countryside due to that lost little GPS.....

Again look to Flickr for Photos
http://www.flickr.com/photos/67250933@N08/sets/72157627601796148/

Heading to England

Hi all,

So yes, we have been back in Canada for over a month and this blog has been seriously neglected. In order to keep everyone in the loop, I will post a series of entries over the next few days.


First - England.

Long haul travel is never fun, unless you are lucky (read:rich) enough to afford Business or First Class. Unfortunately for us, this was not an option. On the 28th June, James' boss Cody & his wife Kristine dropped us off at the airport for our 9pm flight. (little did we know that their fourth child, Sara, would be arriving in a few hours). When we got to check in, we found out the plane was overbooked. As we had already checked in online, our place was secure. We were then offered 125 pounds each if we would give up our seats and take a flight leaving in 2 hours, and we would also be given access to the Lounge. Why not, we thought. It turns out that the second flight was not a scheduled flight, rather it was yesterdays flight, canceled due to maintenance issues. This meant that we did not board the flight till 4am!!! Luckily we were upgraded and we arrived in Bristol at 11pm London time.

We were very fortunate to be staying with Lindsay, a very close friend of James' mum, in Bristol. It is an absolutely wonderful part of England, close to Bath, Wales & Oxford among many other places. Here we met up with James D & his girlfriend Abby who showed us all around. We went to the Clifton Suspension Bridge, a couple of really lovely old houses, Cabots Circus and up and down the main streets of Bristol. We also went to Bath & Oxford (separate Posts) which were really great. Have a look on our Flickr page for photos (it takes FOREVER to upload them on here)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/67250933@N08/sets/72157627600973668/

My new truck

Hey All So I have just purchased my new pick-up truck, a 2001 Chev Silverado 2500 HDTD.
It is a chipped 6.6 litre Turbo diesel 4x4 6 speed manual which I'm thinking would give most V8 utes a run for there money. It is a great truck and will be perfect for work and Hunting Season. In the coming months I will be adding the Aussie touch, a 5 post Bullbar (which don't exist here)

Branding Day - Canadian Style

In Canada, big cattle brandings (for the city people - this is where the calves are vaccinated, castrated (males), de-horned, ear-tagged and fire branded with the owners sign using hot irons) are a social gathering with up to 80 people from surrounding ranches helping out to get several hundred cattle branded in a day. In this particular case, we had two heards to brand. The first heard being just under 500 head of cattle and the second being only 130 head.

In Canada, branding is still done the old fashioned way: on horseback with riders roping the calves and pulling them back over to 6 teams. Each team consists of two wrestlers, 4 people responsible for vaccinations, one for castration, one for de-horning, one for ear tagging and three for hot-branding. There is much technique involved to ensure the job is done safely and quickly. It may seem cruel to the animal but is necessary when doing such large heards, however each calf spends no more than 1 minute maximum on the ground. They are also given pain relief injections (not sure of the exact name).

James was given the opportunity of helping to rassle (wrestle) the calves which was great fun and one hell of an experience.

James Helping a 6 year old boy learn to rassle

Following the branding, the owner of the Ranch usually hosts a BBQ supper for everyone that helped. There is mountains of food and some of the best steak you have ever tasted. And lots of alcohol. But the most unusual food you will find there.....

What is this?

Guess yet?

They are the left overs from castration - thats right calf nuts or as they call them "Prairie Oysters". That are herbed and crumbed and cooked in butter on the bbq and eaten! I am not kidding. Both James and I were made to try one. I was nearly sick - they were disgusting but James had several. Everyone else loved them so it wasn't a joke they pull on Australians. After that, the party continued on in a relatively normal fashion and we had a lot of fun. James & Cody settled in and drunk a fair bit of Scotch and beer, Jess socialised and got followed around by the kids.

Jess holding Emma

yummy steak

Kristine, Cody & James

Cody & James

Everyone was very grateful that the next morning was a late start (midday). Branding is very very very hard work.....

Arrival in Alberta

Following our dramas leaving Saskatchewan, we arrived in Calgary at 9:00 that night with a job interview lined up the next morning. It was scary and exciting at the same time that we didn't know where we would be in 24 hours. James had bought a 1989 BMW 735iL for us to drive and it is a beautiful car (and the first James has ever owned outright)

James had a job interview in Cayley, 45mins south of Calgary. The job was on a mixed grain, cattle and hay farm totalling 40,000 acres over several areas. The couple who owned the property Cody & Kristine are two of the nicest people we have ever met. After talking for a little while, Cody drove us around for an hour or so, showing us his property and equipment before taking us to lunch in a really nice pub in High River (which just happens to be owned by his uncle). After lunch we went back out the farm where James was offered the job of Assistant Manager, starting almost immediately.

We were very excited but we had one problem - we needed to find somewhere close by to live. We looked online using their computer and it wasn't looking good until Kristine brought us their local paper. In it we found a room in a 3br townhouse in High River, 10 mins from the farm, with all utilities included for $400/month. After Cody and Kristine took us out for a lovely dinner (very generous people) we went and had a look and took it straight away. That night we were put up in a beautiful hotel. We took them out for a drink afterwards to say thank you and had a really wonderful time.

We are now living in the very nice, well furnished townhouse, sharing with a really nice landlord who is also very friendly and generous, in an amazing little well serviced town, High River. There is a little farm/garden across the road which is part of the development we live in.

Kitchen/Living Room

                                                          

Living Room

Dining Table

Back of the House

So we have the perfect house and James has the perfect job. His hours are long but enjoyable. He is currently driving the Spray Rig which is a highly advanced piece of equipment that practically drives itself thanks to GPS Auto-steer. 

My new toy

As you can see it is a John Deere Sprayer. EVERYTHING Cody owns is John Deere and we don't just mean tractors and other farm machinery. Everything from babies onesies (he has 3 children with a 4th due in a couple of weeks) to BBQs, kitchen cutlery, light switch panels, curtains & bedding in the kids rooms and almost every toy except for the girls barbie toys is John Deere. The cutest is a t-shirt his 3 year old son (who wants to go to John Deere School) has which says "Will trade Sister for Tractor".

Seeding setup

JD 7820 and Bail processor
(small tractor we use for feeding)

The John Deere Collection

James driving the JD8040

We are having an absolute blast and really love it here. In the next post James goes branding and eats calf nuts (I tried one and was almost sick - James had several)....

Nightmares Leaving Saskatchewan

Sorry we haven't written in so long - we have been absolutely flat out. James and I were working very long days. We were living in this awful shack which was almost falling apart and our wages were terrible. 

Even though James and I were doing the same work, I got paid $5/hour less than him. And after a while we realised the people we were working for weren't very nice. James has a diploma in Farm Management and lots of farm experience but they didn't let him drive the seeding machine, even though it was what we were told he would be doing. So James started looking for jobs in Alberta and got a lot of offers in the Calgary area (Calgary is a major city in Alberta). We told the old boss weeks before that we were planning to leave as we both weren't happy and they were very cranky when we finally told them we were leaving. They had told us that James & I could borrow the car to go pick up one he was buying in Calgary (a 1989 BMW 7 series :) !!!! ) and we would drive back and get all of our things. Then the night before we were going to go they decided that we couldn't use it and we had to catch a bus. Eventually we got him to agree to let me drive James to the airport and he flew to Calgary, bought the car and drove back and we left the next morning. 

Next - we are in the most beautiful part of Canada!