BBQ-ing Water

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My husband checked out this weekend and boarded a plane headed for Langley, BC, to teach a clinic. At first I was looking forward to 3 days in my pjs, hanging out with the babies on my own. But 3 summers storms, 2 power outages and 1 escaped buffalo later – the countdown for Clay\’s return home to Saskatchewan couldn\’t tick by fast enough.

Obviously, taking care of our infant twins was my biggest priority. Lydia, Clay\’s assistant, looked after the buffalo scenario which involved hooking up a trailer and trying to load the wooly creature inside, in the middle of the night. And I doubt it could have been any darker outside… But after a couple of hours and a wee bit of yelling, Lydia, along with David our barn manager and another friend got the animal back into the corral with the rest of her buddies.

Thank goodness!

 

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The next day, a wicked summer storm blew through our farm and left its mark with hail stones the size of dimes and a power outage that lasted 4 hours. Let me tell ya… caring for two babies without electricity in the house isn\’t much fun! Seriously in desperate need of hot water, I considered my options. Call a friend from the city to bring out a thermos? Or fire up the BBQ…

I opted for the BBQ.

Boiling water on the BBQ helped me get the bottles sterilized and got me through in a pinch, but I\’m extremely glad the power is back on now!

I guess if life in the country were easy, it would be crowded out here.

Life as a horse trainer\’s wife sometimes also means being separated temporarily from my husband so he can conduct clinics, attend shows or work on horse deals. But more often than not, the lifestyle means we all get to hang together as family at events or down at the \”office\” – meaning, the barn.

Not that I\’m a big fan of keeping babies in the dust. But in the future, I hope our children will take an interest in the horses and will want to spend time with us in the arena. Of course their interests and ambitions remain to be seen… with my luck they\’ll probably want to snowboard or scuba dive, or do anything other than horses… Oh karma, you are a tricky thing!

But until they\’re big enough to decide what they want to do, we get to choose. So last weekend, Clay, myself, the babies and my mother traveled out to the Reinin\’ In The Sun show, held in Armstrong, BC, over the August long weekend.

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Here are a few behind-the-scenes shots I was able to snap:

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The weather was fabulous, and not too hot this year.

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And as always, the RITs crew put on a fantastic event with lots of extra perks for contestants.

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This included a Brats and Beer BBQ, Friday night cow horse classes, a Saturday evening dinner, cold water on the sidelines and great camaraderie.

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This doesn\’t have anything to do with anything, but it was too great not to include! Half slinkie, half saddle:

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And this is Bob Grimshaw… stealing Barb Grimshaw\’s scooter:

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This is Deanna Paulsen along with Barb, hard at work in the show office. Deanna is a bride-to-be and will marry professional horse trainer, Jesse Beckley this coming September. I know it\’s early, but congratulations guys!!

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All in all, it was another great show!

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My Stable Life will return with some more great shots of the RITs event, courteously provided by Krystina Kowalick. Stay tuned!

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3 thoughts on “BBQ-ing Water”

  1. Diane Thiessen

    Hi Jenn, great article. Also, I attended the clinic in Langley with Clay riding my new boy Freckles. I learned so much. Hopefully next time you can come with the twins, you will have lots of help and “surrogate grandmas”

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