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I've just returned from a trip to Vancouver for a work-related training course.  I flew out Tuesday evening, spent three nights in an upscale water-front hotel, was wined and dined in fine fashion, took advantage of the spa in the hotel, and flew back Friday afternoon.  We had (almost) six hours of training.  Yep, six hours. It was fun, but I will never understand the corporate world.  And I am very glad to be home in mine.

These were the views from my hotel room.

Some of the sights on my morning walk.

I thought that with our older two boys out on their own and Derek off to boarding school that my world would slow down just a tad.  It hasn't.  Firstly, "out on their own" doesn't necessarily translate into "out of here", and so Adam and Stephen are often around on their days off.  Don't get me wrong - I love getting to see them, but I do change the sheets pretty often in what is now the guest room!  (They both helped out quite a bit for harvest, so Clem only had about a week on his own.)  Secondly, kids in boarding school these days are a LOT more connected to home than in previous times.  Texting, Facebook, and emails all mean we keep in pretty close contact with Derek, and I love it.  But again, that whole "gone" concept has a different meaning.

Suffice it to say that they are all doing well and staying busy.  Adam and Stephen love their job (singular - they both have the plant operator position at the camp, shifting each other off), and Derek seems to be fitting in quite nicely at Notre Dame.  He had five days off over the Thanksgiving weekend, and spent most of them with his friends, not us!  He enjoyed his break, but seemed OK with heading back.  He has been plagued with a rib injury since his second day there, so that has put a bit of a damper on his sports, but he played a few games of football (one in Mosaic stadium which we watched in our living room via live streaming!) and has now started hockey (they won their first league game last night).  He has a tournament in Saskatoon in December, so we hope to spend that weekend there and watch him play.  We drove down to Regina to watch one of his football games, but there were crossed wires and the other team didn't show up!  But we did get a couple of short visits in with Derek and met his coaches before heading home again!

This is a screen shot of Derek's team playing on Taylor Field.  He's #65.

We had another successful harvest on the Schraefel farm this year.  The peas didn't do well - they had root rot and didn't produce - but the lentils, wheat, and barley did very well.  It was probably the best crop since 1996, the year we moved home.  The garden did well this year, too.  I think Clem only watered it a couple of times.  We are just finishing up the fresh tomatoes now, and the cold room and the freezer are full of goodies for winter enjoyment.

The neighbour's new well.

Even wild oats can look rather pretty.

Clem straight-cutting barley.

A big load!

Love the skies in these ones.

A friend of ours held a little combine demo with a couple of old SP combines.  It was fun to see some old farmers reminiscing about days gone by.

Hi-tech recording of old-tech machinery!

Those of you from God's country will be interested to know that Redge McKenzie is operating the combine here!

We had a rather different Thanksgiving this year.  Mom and Dad were on their way back to Alberta from a visit at Dad's sister's in Manitoba, and we were quite busy with hockey, so Mom decided we should try the restaurant in Luseland for our Thanksgiving gathering.  A friend of mine, who was on her own for the day, joined us for the yummy turkey meal.  Adam was also around as he was flying out to work the next day.  The meal was excellent, we didn't have to cook, and we didn't have to do dishes!  I probably wouldn't make a habit of it (no turkey leftovers, after all!), but I sure enjoyed it.

Our Junior hockey team, the West Central Rage, is having some success this season.  It has been a long haul - five years of begging for money, scratching together a team, and trying to fill the rink - but, knock on wood, we may be seeing some light at the end of the tunnel.  The team is 7 and 1 so far, and really playing well.  The games have been well attended, and we see lots of young Rage fans coming out and bringing their parents and friends.  It's always lots of fun!

And that's about it in a nutshell.  I've probably missed quite a bit, but you get the drift!

Thanks for stopping by!
Chandra