The Rural Voice, 1998-06, Page 74BRUCE
Email: bruce@ofa.on.ca
County Federation of Agriculture NEWSLETTER
446 10th St., Hanover, Ontario N4N 1P9
519-364-3050 or 1-800-275-9551
• The Rural Voice is provided to Bruce
County Farmers by the BCFA.
While pondering over the content of
this article, and watching the holiday
weekend traffic zoom by our farm, my
son handed me a cartoon and the
caption read "Thanks for the wonderful
vacation. I enjoyed the whole day." We
all laughed at the truth of it, my
husband commented, "that's a
keeper!", so it will get a coveted spot
on the fridge along with his favourite,
"How could I possibly put this 200 lbs
of charm and wit into a 170 lb body?"
Just the same it still remains a
difficult feat for farmers to sneak a few
days away for a family vacation. At the
packing stages of an extended holiday
it seems like it is more effort than the
trip is worth. But what a great incentive
to push three weeks of work into the
final few days before departure. Not to
mention all those little fix -it jobs that
finally get finished up for the relief
milker. The gate that was tied with
twine gets a new latch, the barn gets a
thorough cleaning, the garden is
weedless and the house is a mess.
Coaches have been called for baseball,
soccer and swim team, feed has been
ordered and breeding information
arranged as the laundry flows over the
hampers.
On our farm we have an unique
system to help us get away for an
extended length of time. The night
before departure the kids are sent to
bed in travelling clothes and Dad hits
the hay once he has convinced himself
that everything essential to trouble free
operation has been attended to. Then
my job begins, the washer starts
humming and tonight the dryer is a
must. As I fold and put away laundry I
pack eight duffel bags, one for each of
us as they pack under the seats really
well. I pack into the van plastic buckets
with games, crayons, silly putty, decks
of cards and of course a few tapes on
phonics and multiplication. Between
the driver and the passenger scat goes a
large blue tub filled with library books
and as they are read they go in the back
of the van safe and sound. On our last
trip to Manitoba we used Grandma's
library card to refill our tub and mailed
the books back on our arrival home.
Luckily all six kids can read in the van
70 THE RURAL VOICE
On farmers and vacations
without unpleasant side effects.
Anyway, back to the packing at hand.
Now I start on the coolers of food. We
always pack our own breakfasts and
lunches, and stop at roadsides to allow
the crew a chance to wear off stored up
energy with their ball gloves and
frisbees.
Once the van is packed, I start on
the house. The counters are tidied,
floors are washed and lists are made of
phone numbers and what to do if ... I
always have our rugs shampooed while
we are away because of sensitivities so
all bedroom floors are cleared as
everyone sleeps soundly. It is a glorious
night's work, near exhaustion, to watch
the house transform with no phone calls
to take or meals to make or questions to
answer. And to know that it will remain
tidy for the duration of the trip is
almost unimaginable as usually within
a few hours the mess starts to reappear.
Then as the sun rises I wake up Dad,
the littlest ones are carried to the van
still asleep and the others nestle in with
their pillows. We pull out of the drive
as the relief milker pulls in and I lie
back my seat and sleep until breakfast
in Frankenmuth at 10:00 a.m.
Some of our greatest trips have been
the "leave after chores tonight and
home for chores tomorrow night" type.
We go on a whim and a shoestring. We
make it a rule not to drive for more than
90 minutes and the hotel has to have a
pool. We take breakfast and snacks, do
some shopping, maybe a movie and
live by the poolside for a day. This we
often do on March Break or over
Christmas. It's our trip "south".
We also tent, equipped with
extension cords, electric griddle and fry
pan. We make it a policy to go 12 to 15
minutes from home so that those doing
chores can join us. We have some great
places close to home in Bruce County,
many people from the cities drive hours
BRUCE COUNTY FEDERATION
OF AGRICULTURE
' Directors' Meeting
Monday, June 22, 1998
8:00 p.m.
OMAFRA Boardroom, Walkerton
Members are welcome to attend
to enjoy what we have available in a
few minutes drive.
Then there are summers that
can't accommodate both farming and
vacations. We have had a few of thos,,
(last year we managed only one night
of tenting) but we have found a way to
bring travelling to our farm by hosting
exchange students. This is a wonderful
learning experience for both young and
old. Through the Lions Club we have
hosted students from Italy and Finland
and at present we have a Rotary
exchange student from Belgium. Pcggy
has been with us since March and will
return to Belgium in June when our
summer exchange student arrives from
Mexico. They all love our country and
province and we love sharing the area
and agriculture with them. Our family
becomes well acquainted with all the
exchange students who are staying in
Bruce and Grey counties. These
students come from all countries
imaginable and listening to
presentations about their countries
beats any history lesson. More often
than not these students speak a
minimum of three languages. They also
hold academics as a very coveted
privilege.
All and all, no matter what the
outing whether three weeks, three days
or three hours it is a welcome break to
all and rejuvenates even the most weary
during the busiest of farming seasons.0
Submitted by Jane Dietrich
Executive Member
BRUCE COUNTY FEDERATION
OF AGRICULTURE
NOTE: The following meeting has
been cancelled:
JULY 27 at 8:00 p.m.
IMPORTANT
NOTICE!!!
DEADLINE FOR FARM
BUSINESS REGISTRATION IS
AUGUST 31, 1998
in order to be eligible for the Class 6
Farmland Designation and the
25% Property Tax Rate in 1999.