Hi and happy valentines day to all.  Things are going well out here on the ranch, great weather and lots of sun.  I hope we don't have to pay to hard for the easy winter.  We traveled to Saskatoon, SK for the Native Prairie Restoration Reclamation Workshop.  It was very informative and has us thinking of some new research and demonstration projects for the ranch.  So hopefully more to come on that in the next year, native prairie is a slow grower so we will want to start soon so we can see it to completion before we retire!!
There was a lost Canada goose out here a couple of weeks back...not sure if that's a good sign or not.
Enjoy the rest of the month.

Happy New Year, hoping everyone had a great time saying good bye to 2011 and hello to 2012.  It was a wonderful long fall, we are finally getting some cold weather and still no snow in this part of the country.  Nature can still be a real mother but there is only six weeks left until spring.
So what's new and exciting around here?

• The last of the pheasant hens and roosters that were dropped off in the fall are still alive so there is still hope for chicks in the spring.
• Neal is still busy and active with the AIA.
• Our computer was down for a good month and so we are just catching up on all our paper work.
• We've had geese showing up around here in the last couple of weeks due to the warm weather and open water.

Have a great month, stay warm and be happy.

We are hoping to be able to attend all of these meeting and conferences, as always in this fine country it is weather dependent.  Maybe we will see you there.

Happy new year to all and to all a great winter!!!  Shannon, Neal and the Boys

Hi, sorry this post is so late we had site problems but they are all behind us now.  October has been a good month, fair weather happy cows.

• The pheasants have been getting released on the south west side of the ranch, the hunters are happy and successful.
• The cows went home on the 29th, just in time for Halloween!!
• The geese are back and the lake is full of them.  They sing for us all day and half way through the night.
• Hope all is well and that October has been a great month for all.
  

Well we have had a lovely fall but it looks like things are about to change, and not for the better.  However the 10th anniversary of 9/11 has come and gone and all is well.  I ran a half marathon in lovely Drumheller today and finished at 2:10ish, not bad considering there was at least 3km of up hill.  It was a lovely morning for a 21km run.  So what has been happening around the ranch?! 

• The training out here on the ranch in August was great, however due to a shortage of interest in the course for the following week of the 2011 reclamation criteria has been canceled.
• Neal and Joel Nicholson  will be meeting with Richard Quinlan of LCC (Lethbridge Community College) to work out details of a tour on the 20th of September.
• Duck season has opened and guys have been out though the birds have not been really flocking up just yet.
• The bulls are coming out this week and we have a big Hereford bull grazing with our horses, he's happy to have company that is less demanding...Neal should be so lucky.
• Pheasant season opens on October 15th they will be releasing pheasants on the ranch again this year, we are planning on having them released on the south west corner of the ranch this year if you are looking for them.
• SE Branch of the AIA will be having a meeting in Medicine Hat on Sept. 27th at Medicine Hat college from 6:30 - 10:00 pm this is a beer night (meet and greet) so take a cab and be safe!
• Have a great month, kids are back in school so we are in the groove (routine that is), enjoy!! 
  

This has been a very busy summer, especially this month.  The weather has been wonderful, a few cool days now and they are welcomed after some of our blistering heat.

• I took an AIA course from August 3-5 on the new 2010 reclamation Criteria.  It was very informative and I would recommend it to anyone working in reclamation.
• Neal is enrolled in the course that is being held on September 12-14.
  
• There is also another being held the three days following this, September 15-17.
• Anyone interested in the course should contact the Alberta Institute of  Agrologist   events calendar.
• The Lethbridge college will be doing a tour of the ranch on September 20.
• Neal will be attending the PCF meeting and tour in Wainwright on September 28&29.
• Hunting season starts soon!!!
  

So summer has come at long last.  It is very hot and dry now after what seemed like months of rain and cool weather.  The heat is good, things are really starting to grow and we are looking forward to a little camping for the first time in five years.  So what is new and exciting around the ranch this month?

• We are assisting the AIA with a training program this summer.  They are doing 3, three day courses on the 2010 cultivated and grassland reclamation criteria.  The first course starts on August 3 2011.  For more info or to register please go to the Alberta Institute of Agrology website, calendar of events under news and career info tab.   
• Neal attended the two day PCF tour of Suffield in June and it was very informative and interesting.
• The bulls are in and hopefully working hard.
• Irrigation is proving to be a problem again this year...irrigation/irritation, should be interchangeable!
• stay cool, enjoy the sun and play safe...happy summer everyone!
  

Until next month, live well and be happy, we are living in exciting times...

I was very interested to see that many of my past posts are not on the page...sorry to all that were looking but I really don't know what has happened to them.  It has been a busy fall and winter with no hope of it slowing down at all this winter.  However being busy certainly helps pass the time. 
I hope everyone had a very merry Christmas and a happy new year!!  Here are a few of the things that are going on this month.

• Alta Link will be finishing the repairs to the transmission line starting very soon.
• The storms in November were very hard on the pheasants, we have found a few roosters that have starved to death, it is really a shame.
• We were snowed in and had lost power for more than a day in the November storm.  Neal has since removed the big fence on the north side of the yard and that seems to have stopped the snow from blowing in and blocking the road. 
  
• We have not noticed any deer around the yard this winter but many neighbors are grazing standing corn and we feel the deer may be hanging out in the corn as I have seen many deer tracks on my runs around the ranch.
• Neal will be attending the SRM conference in Billings Montana, from February 06-10.  The boys and I will stay home and mind the ranch.
• We will all be attending the AFGA conference in Edmonton at the end of February, and I will be doing a 21km run on the Sunday, I'm hoping to do it in 2hrs...wish me luck.
  

We hope to see many people in Edmonton, be sure to look for the booth, enjoy your winter weather and again, Happy New Year I hope it brings much joy and happiness to all.

Happy thanks giving all!!
I hope everyone had a great September and are enjoying the fantastic fall weather.  Hunting season is upon us and it sounds like a bit of a war zone around here again. 

• Pheasant season starts on Friday October 15.
• The pheasants will be released on the west side of the ranch again this year
• Hunters are welcome to come to the house for directions and the latest info on what is happening out there.
• Please close all gates that you open as there are still cows out on the ranch.
• Please refrain from hunting near the yard site as we have children, dogs, horses and our milk cow in and around the yard.  Please play safe!
• For all hunters that use dogs...there is a certified dog masseuse on the property, just stop by the house with your sore and tired dogs.
• We are planning on getting all the parking structures re-painted this weekend, please feel free to use them.
  
• The cows are coming out at the end of the month.  They are not being weened on the ranch this year as everyone is busy with a late season harvest.
• The corrals are undergoing a some major repairs this coming week.
• Public lands has been out and completed the grass clippings.  We don't have any results yet but I promise to post them when they become available. However everything suggests that we had an abundance of grass this year.
• Trans Alta is finished repairing the power line on the ranch.
• We are currently trying to stop Trans Alta and Atco Electric from putting huge transmission lines through and adjacent to our wetlands.