July and August are now done. It’s been a full summer. The children have enjoyed going to the public pool in town. They’ve eaten a lot of ice cream and popsicles. They’ve ridden bikes around the farm and beyond. And they’ve been hanging out with puppies.

The four piglets that were born at the end of June were all boys. A family living about an hour away bought two of them. The other two we have kept to eventually end up in the freezer. That meant castrating them. Turns out it’s not as quick and easy as the youtube videos portray. It was a challenge. Since I’m still rather squeamish, my role was to hold the piglet upside down. This I did with my eyes closed. Then Raine was to make the incision and remove the necessary pieces. But she just couldn’t do it. The incision was easy enough but the rest of it wasn’t. She asked her grandfather and uncle but they became woozy at the sight of it. Then we enlisted the help of Athena and the girls’ cousin. Eventually, they got the job done. What an ordeal. That prompted us to put the adult pigs up for sale. We didn’t want to castrate ever again. There haven’t been any buyers yet so we may be doing it all again in a couple of months. Maybe by then we’ll all be better at this sort of thing.

The recent butchering of a rooster has improved Raine and Athena’s skills. After the rooster went after Cora when she was walking with me, I told the children we needed to be rid of him. They decided the freezer would be the best spot and went about taking care of the matter. It all went rather smoothly except for catching him. He must have known something was up. Normally he’s first to the pile when we toss down some feed. Instead he hid in the bushes for ages. All five children, their grandparents, uncle, and cousin came to flush him out. That turned out to the be the hardest part. Once caught it was over quickly. He’s in the freezer waiting for my sister’s visit mid-September. The children would like to cook him then.

It’s been a season of learning and improving skills. Branch, who has always been very afraid of water, has been learning to swim. He’s jumped off the diving board into the deep end while wearing a life jacket and was swimming in the shallow end without one on our last trip to the pool. Adley sits on the stairs and dunks his face into the water. He’s learned to hold his breath and knows when to come up. He asks Cora to count while he’s under, always trying to beat his record.

Cora has been teaching herself to write the names of everyone in the family. She’s memorized our phone number and spouts it off at the feed stores when they ask. On August 3 she turned 6. My mom was here to celebrate as well as Cora’s great-uncle from Virginia. It was a spectacularly fun day. There was the Wild West Parade in town at 11am. All the floats toss out handfuls of candy which the children gathered up. Then a bbq at the Fire Hall. We got to sit inside with a view of all the gear. Then on to the Stampede which, for Cora and Adley, is a continual trip to the concession for snacks of freezies, poutine, and chips. Then another bbq and swimming at the public pool in town. It was a full day and Cora loved telling everyone she spotted that it was her birthday. All the excitement helped us forget the social worker’s optimism that the adoption would be done before Cora’s birthday. In the back of my mind, I was planning a double celebration. That didn’t happen. Saskatchewan sent all the paperwork to Toronto but got no response. It’s been several months now with no answer. Maybe by Cora’s next birthday this will all be done. Maybe.

Raine’s horse has been put up for sale in hopes of buying a better one. In the meantime, she’s back to working with Hazel and has been making good progress. Raine’s lesson has been in letting go of resentment and disappointment. After being bucked off at the beginning of July, she was too angry to even look at her horse. Eventually she’s come around and is working on strengthening a connection with her. It’s been a good lesson.

Athena has been perfecting her brownie baking. She found a delicious recipe and has been making it often. She also helped out with the children’s Vacation Bible School (VBS) at our church. Honestly, I didn’t know how she’d do since it’s rare for her to be out of bed before 11am. Much to my surprise, she got herself up and ready every morning. It was a good opportunity for responsibility.

August 25, Athena headed back to Calgary with my mom who was having surgery on August 27. The recovery is not intense but she didn’t want to be alone in her apartment just in case something happened. Athena was more than happy to head off to the city.

On that same day, we met up with a couple to deliver two puppies. It was all a bit of a whirlwind. They’d come out two weeks prior to pick out two girls. We made arrangements to meet somewhat halfway since they live quite a distance. An exact time hadn’t been decided. I expected it to be later in the day since they mentioned having a wedding to go to the day before. In getting Athena ready to go and the other children ready for church, I didn’t notice the message saying they were on their way until they were nearly at the meeting point. I don’t think I even said goodbye to Athena with much ceremony. The other children and I grabbed the two puppies and jumped into the car. We sped along the gravel back roads going up and down hills until we reached the lake. Coming from Ontario, the lakes here look like large ponds. The beginning and end are all within view. Where I came from, it takes hours to go from one end to the other of the massive Great Lakes.

The puppies were delivered. The couple were thrilled. Even though the wind was brisk, we headed to the beach since I’d promised we would when dropping off the puppies. In all the commotion only Adley had prepared for swimming. Branch was wearing his usual outfit of jeans and a button up shirt. >Raine was in jean shorts and a t-shirt. Cora had on a dress and track pants. I was wearing a dress but had no intention of going in. The beach was almost empty. We moved down from the other family there, far enough that they wouldn’t really notice Branch swimming in his underwear or Cora in her dress. The hot vehicle helped them dry as we drove from the provincial park a short distance into Riverhurst for lunch.

A month prior, we went to the Bean Festival in Riverhurst to see our favourite Saskatchewan singer, Jolie Blue perform. The concert introduced us to what seems to be the unofficial anthem of Saskatchewan. The children have been memorizing the lyrics. After the festival, we went to the park in town which reminded me of the small towns I loved so much in Ontario. There were so many tall trees, black lampposts, and such a beautiful atmosphere. The equipment ranges several decades. There’s a metal lighthouse with winding stairs inside that take you up to the slide that twists around the outside. There’s a wooden structure meant to look like a boat. A strange metal helicopter and swings that I found most enjoyable. We were excited to go back for the puppy drop off. After lunch, we crossed the street to the park. I’m not sure what it is about that place. I come home feeling like I’ve had something of a vacation, the most I can hope for in my situation with the children and farm. It’s refreshing in the most unexpected way.

And now we’re about to launch back into another year of homeschooling, I have the books all ready and something that resembles a plan along with some optimism.

What I will remember most about this summer is the sight of Branch riding his new to him vintage bike with Cora behind him sharing the banana seat. They loop around from the driveway by the house, along the road, and back onto the driveway by the barn. The royal blue bike stands out in the backdrop of golden dormant grass and green shrubbery. They move with joy and confidence. I remember that – riding around with siblings piled on your bike – the feeling of freedom as you travel down the road propelled by the strength of your own body peddling. It was empowering. I remember it as I bike from the house to the barn to feed the sheep in the morning. I remember that this is what we’ve come here for.