Yes.

[arlene_hunter] 00:00:01

your first name? Okay.

Yes, absolutely.

[arlene_hunter] 00:00:02

I just wanted to make sure it wasn't like a Adrienne or

No.

[arlene_hunter] 00:00:04

something.

Plain old

[arlene_hunter] 00:00:06

No.

normal Adrian.

[arlene_hunter] 00:00:08

Got it. Yeah.

Like think Rocky Adrian.

[arlene_hunter] 00:00:12

Perfect.

That was actually gonna be my first question. So, now we got

[arlene_hunter] 00:00:15

Yeah.

that answered.

[arlene_hunter] 00:00:17

Yeah. We're ready to start that. Today we're excited to be talking to

[arlene_hunter] 00:00:22

Adrienne Ivy, who's joining us from her ranch in Saskatchewan. So Adrienne,

[arlene_hunter] 00:00:26

we start each of our interviews with the same question. And so for farmers

[arlene_hunter] 00:00:29

and ranchers, this can cover crops and livestock, but also covers families,

[arlene_hunter] 00:00:33

businesses, and all kinds of other stuff. So we ask, what are you growing?

Well, that's a bit of a changing topic on our farm right now. We are predominantly

a livestock, a beef cattle operation with a little bit of grain farming

as well. So in Saskatchewan, that means the normal oats, canola, peas, wheat,

barley, that kind of thing. But we have been changing that a little bit

due to... economics and also due to we're getting old and we're sick of

working so hard. So we are downsizing the beef cattle side and upsizing

the green side. So we're really fortunate that our land can go either way.

Um, but so we're, you know, converting it from long-term forages back over

to annual grain farming. Um, but then larger part of my day today and the

kids that I'm growing as well. We have two teenagers, Noelle who is almost

17 and Cole who just turned 15 and like you would think of somebody who

spends so much time mothering wouldn't have to think about those numbers

so hard in my head before I spit them out but yeah that never seems to

change so that's what keeps us busy on the farm these days.

[arlene_hunter] 00:02:00

So when you're talking about making a switch in numbers, what are you kind

[arlene_hunter] 00:02:04

of currently at and what is your goal in terms of, whether that's in acres

[arlene_hunter] 00:02:09

or numbers of head of cattle or whatever you're willing to talk about. I

[arlene_hunter] 00:02:13

know not everyone wants to talk about the actual numbers, but if people

[arlene_hunter] 00:02:17

had an idea of what we're talking about.

open book I'll talk about anything and everything probably things that nobody

wants to hear about so that's no problem. So at our highest we were calving

out 1,400 mama cows and that has slowly whittled down that was a little

bit too high of a number for our land base which all grain and everything

included is about 10,000 acres. And so we've whittled that down to kind of

hovered around a thousand for quite a few years. And now our plan is to get

under 500 that we're getting calf. But along with that, we not only have

the cow calf side, we also we keep all of our calves and we run them as

grass or yearlings the next year, retain ownership, finish them, own them

right through to processing for fat cattle. So we still will probably continue

to do all of the parts of it like that, but just reduce our numbers significantly

to under 500. And along this way, as we've been slowly whittling down the

cattle numbers, you know, we were grain farming, you know, as low as a thousand

acres, and we'll probably upsize that to pro I'm guessing we'll see where all

the numbers land out, but probably around 6,000 acres that that will be green

farming here in the near future. That's the loose plan, but as I'm sure both

of you know, plans never quite go exactly as you have planned them out to

be, so it will be interesting to see where we actually land and how close

that is to the plan, because I'm sure it will never be exactly what I planned.

[arlene_hunter] 00:04:01

Yeah, for sure.

and what breed of cattle do you have?

So they're commercial cattle, so you know, mongrels, but predominantly Angus-based.

We have a little bit of Hereford in the genetics as well, just to give a nice

little cross, the odd little bit of Semintal in there too, but mostly Angus.

We've been running red Angus bulls for a really long time and had originally

started with predominantly black Angus cow herd. So it's a mix of red

and black Angus mostly.

I feel like that's something that a lot of non, certainly non-cattle folks and

maybe non-livestock folks in general don't get is that for commercial purposes,

it doesn't matter to have pedigreed animals generally. If you're not selling them

for breeding, it does not matter. And as long as they're doing well for you, it really,

right.

the color doesn't matter, the breed doesn't matter

Yeah, it's such a difference

if it's

from

working.

the dairy industry, right? That is so genetics focused and particular

about their genetics and registrations. And I don't even understand, but all the different

levels of of the cows and classification. That's the word that I'm looking for. Yeah.

Whereas for us, we're really focused on just pure production of the individual

cow. if she does real well for us then no matter what colour she is she'll

keep raising babies and it's really for us it comes down to two things.

The first is feed conversion so we need a mama cow that doesn't need to

eat a lot herself but yet raises a good calf and but then we even take that

back farther and it's not so much about even the cattle genetics because

even though we're farm. For us, it's always been about the land and what

we really have been are grass farmers and forage farmers. That's the stepping

stone of or the cornerstone of our whole operation. So we've been more

worried about forage genetics, honestly, than we have about cattle genetics.

And I know as a beef and lamb producer myself, you know, I mean, where Arlene's looking

at measuring butter, fat or yield or, you know, pounds in the tank or whatever, my

biggest concerns are, is she stupid and is she crazy? You know, like those are

harder to really put a number to, but you know, those are kind of the top things

we look for. And I mean, we have a much smaller herd than you do. So that's, you

know. One crazy bitch is a much larger percentage of our total. But, you know, that's

that's our first cut is how big of a pain in the ass are they?

Well,

You

it's

know, and that's.

so true, but also that is such a big variance from farm to farm too, right?

So because we have in May and June and they have out on pasture and unless

you're a first time heifer, we don't touch you. Like you're checked once

a day and we'll deal with any emergencies. But other than that, you're on

your own and you're miles away from the nearest yard. So we actually kind

of love the crazy bitches. because they're good kite chasers and they

protect their calf at all costs, which is extremely dangerous if you're calving

in the yard and you have to go and put your hands on that calf as a human.

But for ours that are range cattle, Nope. Be a crazy bitch. Just do it

over there where I don't have to deal with you.

I'll even handle them being a crazy bitch if they've got a calf on, fine.

Right.

But, you know, like we had an Angus cow that just destroyed a whole bunch of pipe

gates. And I'm like, you know what? No, like you're just being a crazy bitch. Just,

there's no excuse for this,

It's so

you know.

true.

She went straight to the sale because it's just not worth it.

Well, yeah, well, and where we run into that is when we're handling them

as yearlings after, you know, because crazy bitch genetics are definitely

passed down. So when they when we get into a group of really flighty yearlings

that are impossible to handle, that's when we know we need to be tamping that

down on the cow herd a little.

Yep. So are you from a farm background yourself?

I am from a farm, but not a cattle farm. I grew up on a pure grain farm,

that the only livestock we had was some 4H calves and some show horses.

So it was, and I met my husband at university, and we came back to his family

farm immediately after university. We didn't work farming with his parents, but

right side by side. And he always wanted to be a cattle farmer. They had

a small feedlot and he loved the cow-calf side of it and I was like, well

farming's farming, right? How different can it be? Turns out it's completely

freaking different. And I had a real steep learning curve that I needed to

figure out and do a lot of learning and a lot of adjusting my expectations

of what farm life would look like. because the flexibility of your time

on a grain farm is 100% different than the daily grind of livestock, for sure.

Yeah, I suppose with crops, you know, once they're planted or, you know, I mean,

obviously there's work to be done, but it's not as time sensitive generally as

livestock work is.

Absolutely, we got to spend time at the lake in the summer and we got to

go on vacations in the winter and yeah, it's just a different level of daily

expectations for sure. And then you throw in that we're a mixed farm.

So you have all of the high stress times of planting and harvest and all

of that as well. But then the months of putting up feed in the summer. and

of course feeding cattle all winter long too. So we are lucky we have two

full-time hired guys and they are fantastic. We could never do this without

them so they do offer us a little bit of flexibility which has been mostly

just eaten up by chasing kids to their activities for the past 10 years as

I know you guys can probably attest to. But yeah definitely a big difference.

from the green and even just green farming cash flow compared to livestock

and all the parts of it. They're just very different businesses.

Yeah, that's true too. I guess with grain farming, you know, the money kind of

goes out at one time and it comes in at one time. Where with livestock it mostly

seems to just go out all the time and then

Yeah, yeah, coming

maybe

in.

it comes in sometimes.

Yeah, I'm still waiting

But...

for that, I think,

Yeah.

which is why we're going to green farm more.

So are you guys able to support your family on what you're making on the farm? Or

are you... Canada's apparently a whole different place than the U.S. Where you guys...

I mean, there are obvious downsides, don't get me wrong. But it seems a lot more

common in Canada for families to actually be able to support themselves on farms. It's

Yeah,

like a

so,

crazy thing to the Americans,

yeah,

but...

oh wow. So yeah, I would say most, maybe not most, but a good percentage

of farms here in Saskatchewan are completely self-sufficient. Really, it's

like anywhere, there's a broad variety of sizes of farms, but for us, we're

really fortunate. Where we wanted to farm. Right when we started farming,

there was a lot of land available for purchase and quite economically. So we

were really able to start right from the get-go, buying up land and getting

ourselves to a size that we were able to not work off-farm at all. My husband,

so I mentioned my husband and I met at university. We both have degrees in

agriculture. He farmed full-time right from the get-go. Even though our part

of the farm was quite a bit smaller, he worked on his parents' farm as

well and worked with them. And I had a full-time off-farm job in agriculture

and worked in corporate agriculture for, oh, a good 10 years. And that allowed

us to live totally off of my income and just let the farm grow, basically.

And yeah, 10 years in, and our farm was growing exponentially. Thank goodness.

Like I said, all that land was available and we were able to buy, buy

a good chunk of it. And, um, and the kids, I always had this idea that when

you have kids, you know, it gets easier when they get to school and I'd

have so much more time and freedom and flexibility once my kids were in

school and then my kids were in school. And I realized, holy crap, this

is completely different. It is a total new level of shit show. and I was

needed at home more than ever. So I gradually decreased the days that I was

working. I was able to work some part-time marketing jobs and even that

got to be too much, which was terrifying for me to go full-time at home and

on the farm. I'm a super social person. I like to be around people. So it was

terrifying, the idea of staying home. in the middle of literally nowhere. But

it's the best thing I ever did. It was the scariest and the best. I'm

so glad we've never regretted it ever since. The attention that I can pay

to my kids and chase them around. And also just helping out on the farm too.

I definitely would never consider myself the primary farmer here, but. there's

no doubt that we could not be at the size and scale that we're at if I

wasn't able to be such a support system.

[arlene_hunter] 00:14:41

I know that Katie and I have talked about it before, but my guess is one

[arlene_hunter] 00:14:46

of the biggest factors in us as Canadian farmers being able to work full

[arlene_hunter] 00:14:50

time on the farm. And I'm able to do the same as you, Adrienne, spend some

[arlene_hunter] 00:14:54

of my time as a stay at home parent and some of my time farming. But not

[arlene_hunter] 00:15:01

having to pay for healthcare is such a huge factor in our ability to do

[arlene_hunter] 00:15:07

that because I look at, you know, I'm in a few different... know chat groups

[arlene_hunter] 00:15:12

of farm women or farm families and the costs associated with trying to fund

[arlene_hunter] 00:15:18

your own health care if you don't have an off-farm job in the States just

[arlene_hunter] 00:15:22

seems mind-blowing to me and I don't know how that works I guess you know

[arlene_hunter] 00:15:27

like we just don't have that expense that we have to factor in.

You know, I've thought about that too often. Same thing with friends in

the States and stuff. And just the cash flow, the after tax cash flow of having

to pay that insurance and stuff. That's pretty significant. I will say, you

know, down there, I guess they have the benefit of their tax. Their tax level

isn't nearly as high as ours, but somebody's on the farm. That doesn't matter

so much because livestock keeps going the way it is. And we don't pay that

much taxes. So.

[arlene_hunter] 00:16:03

I was kind

I guess

[arlene_hunter] 00:16:03

of thinking

I

[arlene_hunter] 00:16:04

the

can't

[arlene_hunter] 00:16:04

same

complain

[arlene_hunter] 00:16:04

thing.

about

[arlene_hunter] 00:16:04

If you

taxes.

[arlene_hunter] 00:16:06

have enough debt, then you

Yes!

[arlene_hunter] 00:16:09

don't pay that much in taxes.

Exactly.

I know my family is incredibly lucky to have the level of healthcare that is provided

by my job, but I would guess that our out-of-pocket health costs to carry this kind

of coverage, if I had to pay for it would probably be $3,000 a month, pretty easily.

through.

Yeah, which is, you know, a year's income pretty quick, and that's for four people.

Like, that's...

Yeah!

[arlene_hunter] 00:16:43

Yeah, and that's just

You know.

[arlene_hunter] 00:16:44

one aspect of your family's needs, right?

Yeah,

[arlene_hunter] 00:16:47

That

yeah.

[arlene_hunter] 00:16:47

that's not anything else. Yeah.

Yep. And so

That

that

is.

does make a big difference. And so there's a lot

[arlene_hunter] 00:16:55

Mm-hmm.

of families that maybe have coverage, but it's only maybe enough to keep from losing

the whole farm if something happens, but not something so bad that you hit the cap

and then you still have to pay for it, you know, and that's just kind of... There's

a lot of families getting by on... crossing fingers and, you know, hoping that

you actually die if something bad happens. So

Oh,

it's

oh.

not a great system, you know.

Well, and it's just the unknown of it, right? Like I'm a person who I like

a solid plan and the plan can always change, but I like a plan. So the idea

of not having that fallback would be actually terrifying to me. Honestly,

so again, this all relates back to agriculture, but that's a really huge

reason of also why you're downsizing cows and upsizing the grain here is because

government programming, very little downside to grain farming in Saskatchewan

in today's day and age. There is all sorts of government backed insurance

and you're almost, you'd have to be in a real big bind to get into financial

trouble as a grain farmer, but those same backstops aren't there on the

livestock side, especially beef that is not supply managed like some other

livestock based things up here. So my aversion to risk and my need for a plan,

it does not bode well with the ups and downs of the livestock industry

in Canada these days.

And it, you know, you guys can make way cooler drone videos up there than we can,

which I feel like is a real upside. You know, as someone with an almost five year

old son and a 44 year old husband who spend a lot of time watching YouTube videos

of other farms. You know, here, like if I made a drone video of us harvesting, it

would be like a six row head. stopping and turning around and stopping and turning

around. Where up there you guys can get like, you know, seven combines side by

side and like miles, you know, or kilometers, I guess, kilometers long fields, which looks

really cool.

[arlene_hunter] 00:19:17

Yeah.

Where here it would just be my husband swearing and stuff breaking down. Like that's

not really

[arlene_hunter] 00:19:23

Can you hear

four-year-old

[arlene_hunter] 00:19:24

the swearing from

friendly

[arlene_hunter] 00:19:24

the drone?

content. Yeah.

land basin is it's very rolly lots of wetlands lots of bush so therefore

lots of turning and

I didn't

lots

even know

of

there

swearing

were hills in Saskatchewan, I guess.

yes

I guess I

well

just figured it was.

no like we're we are not flat at all and in fact that's why we have been

a livestock farm for so long is because who wants to farm frickin hills

in Saskatchewan so yeah but another interesting point is out east they

might measure farmland by kilometers but out west we measure it all in miles and

it's because the way our land was surveyed every single field is a square

160 acres and is yeah measured in miles not kilometers so I am nine miles

I live nine miles from our closest town called iTunes But yet I live 120

kilometers from our closest city Which is Regina because as soon as you

go over like the 20 mile line, then you just think in kilometers It's very

confusing

So weird. I will

[arlene_hunter] 00:20:39

Yeah,

I will admit to

[arlene_hunter] 00:20:40

measurement

that I'm from.

[arlene_hunter] 00:20:40

makes no sense.

I'm from central Iowa, which is very much grain farming, and it's measured by sections

like it sounds like it is up in your place. For it's you know, if you turn left,

what, three times, you're at home.

Yes.

And I moved to a part of Iowa where if you turn left three times, you're in Wisconsin.

You know, it's I get lost all the time up here still because it's just, you know.

At home, if you turn left enough times, you're gonna be right where you started. It's,

Absolutely.

I don't know, thumbs down on this weird ass situation. But

[arlene_hunter] 00:21:15

Yeah.

there's hills up here, which I guess does change things.

[arlene_hunter] 00:21:20

Yeah, that's true. So, Adrienne, I know that you and your husband were part

[arlene_hunter] 00:21:24

of the Canadian Outstanding Young Farmer program and my husband and I were

[arlene_hunter] 00:21:29

two at one point through the Ontario program. We didn't get to go national,

[arlene_hunter] 00:21:33

so we didn't get quite as far as you guys did. But can you tell us a bit

[arlene_hunter] 00:21:37

more about that competition and why people should apply to be part of it

[arlene_hunter] 00:21:41

if they happen to be Canadian and young farmers?

Yes, if you are 40 or under, I highly, highly, highly, highly recommend.

Um, it's something that when we were first nominated that my husband and

I really struggled with. And when I say my husband and I just mean my husband,

because he does not like to go and do all the things and see all the people

and really leave the farm for anything. And I

[arlene_hunter] 00:22:08

make

want

[arlene_hunter] 00:22:08

a presentation.

to do all of those things. Yeah. Yes. So, um. We went back and forth for

a little bit of whether or not we should be going through with this. And

I'm so glad we did. It's the best thing we've ever done. So Outstanding

Young Farmers, they have different regions across Canada. It mostly goes by province,

you know, except all the Atlantic provinces are together and the territories

join in with a province. But so every region or every province basically

has one farm that they send on to the nationals. And through that program,

we have made lifelong friends that I would never have crossed paths with

in my life. I love that it is people who are doing unique things on their

farms, whether it is finding interesting ways of using or whether it is

doing niche markets or whether it's just like they're doing the status quo,

but they're absolutely rocking it and thinking big and taking risks. I think

that any time that you can surround yourself with other people who are

doing really cool shit, it is gonna make you better at whatever you're

doing, even if it's totally unrelated to what that. other farm is doing.

I think it's really easy for us as farmers to get sucked into what we are

just doing every single day and kind of get bogged down in our own operations.

But even my introvert husband who doesn't like to be around all the people,

every time that he goes to an outstanding young farmer event, he comes

back. just excited and wanting to look for new opportunities and to think

about things a little bit differently. I just, that is something that as farmers,

we just don't do enough of, whether it's through this program or maybe

peer groups or whatever is out there, maybe it's just hitting your major

trade, egg trade show or whatever. I think we all can be better at that, learning

from each other and inspiring each other.

[arlene_hunter] 00:24:34

Yeah, it's so easy to get kind of stuck in your physical place, right? And

[arlene_hunter] 00:24:39

thinking, well, this is the only way to do it. And this is the way it's

[arlene_hunter] 00:24:42

always been done. We'll keep doing it because it's safe or any of those

[arlene_hunter] 00:24:45

types of things. I saw a quote the other day that was like tradition is just

[arlene_hunter] 00:24:48

peer pressure from your ancestors.

Yes!

[arlene_hunter] 00:24:51

And it was like, I thought that was really good for agriculture too, where

[arlene_hunter] 00:24:55

it's like, okay, maybe this is the way that your predecessor did it. Or,

[arlene_hunter] 00:25:01

you know, three, four generations before. to keep doing it just because they

[arlene_hunter] 00:25:06

did? They didn't, maybe they didn't have any options. Maybe they didn't

[arlene_hunter] 00:25:09

want to do it that way. And we have to be willing, yeah, to try new things

[arlene_hunter] 00:25:14

and take risks and learn from other people too.

Absolutely. Yep. Couldn't agree more.

I think, too, one of the huge benefits I see from attending conferences and stuff

is getting to talk to farmers who've been doing it for 50 years and still have stuff

go wrong. Because I think so many farmers get so stuck in the, you know, everyone else

is doing amazingly and our farm is going to shit and nobody else's cows ever escape

and nobody else's fields ever flood and everything is great for everybody else

and it's bullshit. But it's not like... you know, generally we're gonna call each other

up and just be like, hey, did you know that my whole field flooded and all my cows

ran away? And you know, like, we're not gonna talk about the things that go wrong.

And so it gets really easy to think that it's just your farm that is struggling.

And it's not healthy to think it's just you.

It's so true or even like even on good years on any given day, there is so

much shit that goes sideways. And I think that we have this idea as farmers

that like, Oh, we actually got rain this year. We're not in a drought.

It's not horrible. We didn't get hailed out. Every animal on the farm didn't

die. So I just need to suck it up because really things aren't that bad.

when the reality is on a really good day, a lot of bad shit happens that is

stressful and you need to figure it out and work through it. And the more that

we actually talk about that, yeah, there is solidarity in that and that

we aren't alone and that I had a shitty day, but so did so many other

people and we can all commiserate together. The

So.

downside of social media for sure is so much is just the highlight reel

and agriculture social media is no different. It's a lot of beautiful drone

pictures but it's also important we share sometimes the shit show as well.

And I think that's such a good point too, because I know, you know, as grain farmers,

we see that Instagram post of somebody's yield in a combine, you know, that they hit

300 bushels an acre and like, but it was for 20 feet. Like, yeah, you hit 300, but

it wasn't the whole damn farm. You know, so I'm wondering what your thoughts are

on how we can improve how honest we are. on social media and how we can

deal with our frustrations about it because I know too it's hard because you don't

wanna look like a loser. Like nobody wants to come out and just be like everything

is terrible, you know. But also it's good not to totally bullshit people.

Right. Well, and there's toxic negativity, but then there's also toxic positivity

too, right? And it's a fine line of not wanting to go too far in either

direction. And then there's also the thing you need to worry about of activists

and sharing a bad day on a livestock farm can easily sometimes be taken

way out of context and used for, you know, some of that. driven narrative

that unfortunately is still out there. But I think I think the core of

it needs to come from that we as farmers just like all people we need

to be able to poke a little fun at ourselves sometimes. And like some of

the shit shows that happen I would actually say the majority of the shit

shows that happen are our own doing and so we need to be able to be like

look at my stupidity I just got ridiculously stuck because I was driving

the tractor while watching a TikTok and drove right into a slew and like

just own it and be able to laugh at it and be a bit ridiculous, right?

Because we all are and that's normal and that's okay. Yeah. I think that

when we can allow ourselves to be seen as human... then it is just not

only good for our own souls, but good for everyone else's as well. My kids

are teenagers now, right? So they are quite a bit more picky now about what

images of them I would put on social media than when they were five and

six and just adorable, even when they were bad, right? So it's something

that we talk about a lot that it's okay to... poke fun at yourself and it's

okay to poke fun at each other a little bit but still being mindful you know

if before I share things about them I ask for their permission now which I

feel like I shouldn't have to do because I freaking own them because I

made them but

[arlene_hunter] 00:30:23

I'm going to go ahead and turn it off.

also it's a life lesson of I don't own their image to put on social media

and just like they need to be aware of that when they are. when they have

a funny video of some stupid thing their friend did or whatever, right?

[arlene_hunter] 00:30:38

or that

Like,

[arlene_hunter] 00:30:38

we did.

yes, exactly.

[arlene_hunter] 00:30:42

We don't want that to happen. So yeah, you do have to start asking for permission.

[arlene_hunter] 00:30:45

Otherwise, the next time I do something stupid, it could end up

Exactly.

[arlene_hunter] 00:30:48

on social media.

So, oh, and my farmer's just coming in to interrupt this.

[arlene_hunter] 00:30:57

Hi Farmer.

I'm doing a podcast. Oh, sir.

[arlene_hunter] 00:31:03

I'm sorry.

I'm just glad to hear somebody else tell the truth about having to ask your kids

for consent, because it is so fucking annoying to have to, like, model asking for

physical affection from someone that you literally lived inside your body for most

of a year. Like,

right?

you didn't ask permission before you just jumped all around in there. Like, why

should I, you know, but... It's not how consent works is, you know, you have to

I know.

ask unless you don't want to and then you don't... God, it's annoying. Now I'm mad

It

just

is,

thinking about it.

right? And like, especially when you throw in the whole feeling of ownership

that you have over your kids, right? Like, I own your ass. I can do whatever

I want, except shits know that's bad. So I guess I'll ask permission.

[arlene_hunter] 00:31:54

Yeah, it's such a strange, you know, like through that transition period

[arlene_hunter] 00:31:59

too, right? From like little kids to teens, there are those years in between

[arlene_hunter] 00:32:03

where one day they're still a little and they act it, right? And then you

[arlene_hunter] 00:32:08

turn around and you're like, when did we start to be able to have these

[arlene_hunter] 00:32:11

conversations? And now I realize, yeah, how big you're getting. But yeah, day

[arlene_hunter] 00:32:16

to day and even minute to minute, sometimes that completely changes.

Absolutely. They keep us on our toes. That is the one thing. Parenting

and farming are exactly the same because no two days are the same. And

just as soon as you think you got all your shit figured out, then everything

changes.

[arlene_hunter] 00:32:35

Yeah, that's right. True, true, true.

So

[arlene_hunter] 00:32:39

So

I'm

[arlene_hunter] 00:32:39

one

gonna

[arlene_hunter] 00:32:39

of the

ask,

[arlene_hunter] 00:32:39

things...

oh, no, I'm gonna ask one more question. So

[arlene_hunter] 00:32:43

Yeah.

you said you have teenagers, and I'm just gonna go there because I am not shallow.

Why does your skin look so good? Were you 12 when you had these kids, or are you

like, is this a filter? You guys, like, listeners, just go look at Adrienne's social

media. You will understand why I'm just asking this creepy-ass question, because

she looks amazing. And... I generally look like I got backed over by a garbage truck.

Like... So, Adrian, explain your skincare routine to us, because I also, like, in all

seriousness, someone who's had skin cancer and, like, is dealing with all this,

like, weird skin shit, working outside, especially in the wind, in the sun, whatever,

is fucking bad for your skin. So tell us, please, because you look like someone who

might know something about... how to not look like shit. Thank you.

I don't know if I know anything. I do, I know a couple of things that if I am

not wearing any makeup, there are times on social media that I'm using a

filter. So like what you see is not always reality, but like you're looking

at my face right now, but I have a light ring on. So sometimes, you know,

light is a girl's, the right light is a girl's best friend. But also I would

say I had a bit of an epiphany in the middle of COVID. to be honest, when

everything was shut down and I was home all the time and apparently when

you're home more, you look in the mirror more. I don't know, but I was

like, I need to make some real changes because I'm sick of feeling like I

look like shit. And I think we're all the hardest on ourselves, right?

But I started religiously using sunscreen. which I've never been a sunscreen

person. I'm kind of that in-between skin tone where I don't burn super easily,

but also I don't get real dark either. So I've just never really worried about

it, but I should, because like if I wasn't wearing any makeup right now, you

would see sun spots all over my face and started like actually trying to

take care of it. So I'm not the greatest about doing a great job of cleaning

my skin. but I'm pretty religious about moisturizing it now. And

I know nothing about anything except that all of a sudden now I have this

whole budget line about with skincare items that five years ago was probably

just spent on wine. So I don't know if I'm doing anything right or not, but

apparently what I am doing right is good use of filters and lights because

yeah, sometimes. Sometimes what you see on social media is not the whole

picture.

I will say that having skincare, especially sunscreen, in your budget is a hell of a lot

less expensive than going to the dermatologist to have things removed. And that if I had realized

earlier that generally the way skin cancer is treated is to cut it out and to just

keep going until it's gone, I would have started being a lot better about sunblock

a lot sooner. Because... Yeah.

That's a really, really

It's...

great point. And as I'm sitting here, I'm like, I never have talked to my kids,

especially my daughter about sunscreen and like they're farm kids, they

are outside every day all year round doing chores and they're just outdoorsy

kids too. Yeah, I should be having them. sunscreen on their face like I

feel like in Canada we grew up we're pretty good about like sunscreen on

our shoulders or you know our chest or places that you would typically get

a sunburn but you never

[arlene_hunter] 00:36:45

Or if you're going out in

think

[arlene_hunter] 00:36:45

the water,

about just

[arlene_hunter] 00:36:46

right?

the

[arlene_hunter] 00:36:46

It's like,

yes yes

[arlene_hunter] 00:36:49

if we're going to the

but you

[arlene_hunter] 00:36:49

pool,

don't think

[arlene_hunter] 00:36:50

if we're

about

[arlene_hunter] 00:36:50

going to

the

[arlene_hunter] 00:36:50

the lake,

daily

[arlene_hunter] 00:36:51

then you put it on, yeah.

yeah exactly you don't think about the daily especially like for us as farmers

your face sees so much sunlight all the time So it's something we should talk

about our kids with, but I don't, I haven't,

[arlene_hunter] 00:37:05

Yeah,

I will

[arlene_hunter] 00:37:06

for

now.

[arlene_hunter] 00:37:06

sure. Yeah. So one of the other reasons I enjoy following you on social media

[arlene_hunter] 00:37:13

is looking at what you're making for supper, because I'm always in like a food

[arlene_hunter] 00:37:16

slump and, and you're also honest about, you know, like what you're taking

[arlene_hunter] 00:37:22

on the road because you're busy and you know, like sometimes it has to

[arlene_hunter] 00:37:26

be on the go. So can you give me some ideas for what I should make for supper

[arlene_hunter] 00:37:30

tonight? Cause I don't know what I'm making.

Yeah, we live our lives around car meals these days with two very athletic

kids. We're always on the road to somewhere and because we live in the middle

of nowhere, it's a long ways. Both of my kids drive an hour each way for

just practices. So it's a lot of car meals around here. But my system of

figuring out what the F we're going to have for supper that night is to mid-morning

go downstairs, open my deep freeze and stare mindlessly at it until a protein

jumps out at me that says, cook me today and then I build my meal around

that. Which sometimes works awesome and then sometimes are hilarious fails

because I have nothing to actually that goes well with that said protein. But

I feel like some of the best meals are the low and slow meals, if you have,

if you're around the house or the yard enough to make that happen. Love

throwing a roast in the oven and just letting it do its thing all day long,

whether it's a roast chicken, roast pork or roast beef. I know that in my

freezer, the last things to get cooked every year are the things that take

attention throughout the day. I've got about four briskets in my freezer

right now that are just waiting for a day that has time for me to be smoking

them and spritzing them and you know giving them all the love and attention.

Beef short ribs are all the next last thing to get cooked because you know

that braising kind of takes all day. They're the most delicious things,

but usually the last things to go.

Instant pot.

And I

Short ribs in the instant

Yes.

pot. Perfection.

Yes, that's, I need to get better at using my Instapot. I, it lives downstairs

in my basement and anything that lives downstairs feels like it's a pain

in the ass to cart it up and actually use it. Same with my air fryer. I

probably only use that once every couple months for the same reason. So

yeah, but those are my go-tos. typically are things that I can cook with ground

beef because it's quick and it's easy. Spaghetti and meat sauce we eat

on average twice a week because it is so easy. Kids love it. You can eat it

in the car on the go if you have to. Leftovers are perfect too. Love that

one. That's definitely a go-to and honestly homemade pizza. We always have

stuff in my freezer that I can throw pizza together. Again, living in

the middle of nowhere, there are no pizza delivery options where we live.

And it's a half hour round trip just to go and get pizza. So I just make

our own. I've got pre-made shells in the freezer and some deli meat and

what else do you need?

[arlene_hunter] 00:40:42

Those are some good ideas. I already did take some beef out of the freezer

[arlene_hunter] 00:40:45

today. So I've got the head start. Now

There

[arlene_hunter] 00:40:47

I just need

you

[arlene_hunter] 00:40:47

to actually

go. That is

[arlene_hunter] 00:40:48

do

the thing.

[arlene_hunter] 00:40:48

something with it.

Someday I will be the person that takes the meat out the day before. Someday,

when I grow up, that will be me, but it's no time

[arlene_hunter] 00:40:57

Yeah.

soon. It still has not happened.

[arlene_hunter] 00:41:01

then you might change your mind between yesterday and today about what

[arlene_hunter] 00:41:04

you want to eat, right?

exactly it and I am a very, I don't know what the right word is, emotional

cook? Like I get excited about cooking because I feel like eating that thing

that day. So how can you decide that the day before? You're gonna want something

different.

[arlene_hunter] 00:41:21

Yeah,

Or if God forbid

[arlene_hunter] 00:41:22

very true.

it's the day that your husband offers to take the whole family to Culver's for dinner,

which... You Canadians are missing out, okay? I'm just saying,

I've never been.

there's cheese or butter or cheese and butter on basically everything they make.

Oh.

It's fast food, but like, it's actually food. You know where at McDonald's and you're

like, I feel so much worse after eating that. Culver's is

Yes.

like, the inverse of that. And they're based in Wisconsin, which totally makes them

locally owned and thusly okay.

Yeah,

So,

you can feel good

no.

about it all around. Nice.

Yeah. Yeah. So one of the reasons we started this podcast was because of the isolation

of being first-time parents. And like you said, I mean, it's a half-hour round trip

to get pizza here if you want pizza from the gas station, you know? And so a lot

of the parenting groups we were in, there was a lot of, you know, just... get it

door dashed or take an Uber or get a nanny or whatever, like things that will

not happen. So what was the transition to motherhood like for you?

Honestly, motherhood was not isolating for me. Here in Canada, we are blessed

with a one-year maternity leave where you get 50% of your wage for a whole

year. So those maternity year leaves were isolating for sure. Like baby years

were hard, but in general, when my kids were hard, I was going back to

work. After that year was over, work provided me with a lot of social interactions.

It was a far greater adjustment for me when I stayed home full time on the

farm than when I had my babies, for sure. But that happens to coincide exactly

with when I started my blog and started being a lot more active on social

media. So... That again is the upside of social media. It's this whole

new world of friendships and like-minded people and support system that

otherwise I would never be able to find in my tiny little town that is

still half an hour away or 15 minutes away, right? Like, so that has been

the upside for me and how I managed through that part of it. I really did

not enjoy my mat leave years. And I think probably looking back now, the

isolation of those two specific years were probably a big part of why I didn't

enjoy them as much. I mean, I love my babies, don't get me wrong, but they

still, they were hard on me specifically. And I'm old enough that social

media wasn't. a part of my maternity years, you know, 17 years ago, uh,

they're, well, I don't even know if Instagram was alive yet, right? Uh,

so I think that's what I, where I would definitely tell other new moms to look

for. And like you said, not to look for like-minded people in similar situations.

It's reaching out to you too. And, and and figuring out where your online

social connections are, or listening to podcasts like this, and understanding

that, just like we talked about understanding that everybody has shit days

on the farm, everybody has shit days as a mom, as a parent, as a caregiver,

right? Like, children are the most rewarding thing in the world, and they

are also the thing that drives us absolutely fucking bananas. whether they

are two months or 17 years old, like holy, their emotional investment

in their wellbeing and also your sense of responsibility when things go

wrong because things are gonna go wrong whether they're six months old or

16, like it just happens. So understanding that you're not alone in those

things I think is huge, but it's on us as remote rural. parents to sort

that out and to not just bury ourselves and isolate ourselves even more.

[arlene_hunter] 00:46:05

Yeah, I know that I was going from working to my first maternity leave around

[arlene_hunter] 00:46:09

the same time as you. I have a 17 year old as well. And I think Facebook

[arlene_hunter] 00:46:14

was maybe just starting but like

Yeah.

[arlene_hunter] 00:46:15

we were on dial-up still. So you had to like log

Yes!

[arlene_hunter] 00:46:18

on and go in. But it was such a culture shock to go from I was commuting

[arlene_hunter] 00:46:26

into the city and coming back to the farm at night or I was working shift

[arlene_hunter] 00:46:30

work. So some of the time I was coming back in the middle of the night.

[arlene_hunter] 00:46:32

So I was around but I didn't really know. anyone in my community. I wasn't

[arlene_hunter] 00:46:37

from here and so then I was off on my first year of maternity leave and

[arlene_hunter] 00:46:42

realizing I don't know anyone. Like I know my my mother-in-law and a couple

[arlene_hunter] 00:46:46

of my immediate neighbors but I don't know any other parents of young kids.

[arlene_hunter] 00:46:49

Like I have no mom friends and so it took a long time and work to actually

[arlene_hunter] 00:46:57

meet other people and you know not everyone has resources. You know like we're

[arlene_hunter] 00:47:02

not too far from a town where there were library and that kind of stuff and

[arlene_hunter] 00:47:06

so I could meet other parents of young kids but I know not everyone is close

[arlene_hunter] 00:47:11

enough to those things and you know we have the Canadian privilege of

[arlene_hunter] 00:47:16

having a year off where you know other people are and depending on your

[arlene_hunter] 00:47:22

farm situation too you may be going back to work within days of having

[arlene_hunter] 00:47:25

your baby too so those things are all different depending on where you live

[arlene_hunter] 00:47:29

and what your personal situation is.

Yeah, it's definitely a journey. And I think that looking back now, if I would

have realized what a journey it is, and it's not just like, I need to find

a best friend tomorrow kind of thing. It's my life is gonna change and

progress and friendships are going to ebb and flow. And honestly, the easiest

time of a parent's life, I think, or in my experience, to make that network

is once your kids start to be in stuff. Right? So you all of a sudden

your social life becomes the other parents that are on your kids' hockey

team or their volleyball team or 4-H club or whatever it is that your kids

are passionate about. That's where we spend all of our time. So. hopefully fingers crossed that there's some parents

within that team or group that aren't total duds and you can actually form great relationships with.

[arlene_hunter] 00:48:36

Yeah, even if it's just for the hour that they're at practice or yeah in

[arlene_hunter] 00:48:40

the 4-H meeting or whatever to have someone else

Absolutely.

[arlene_hunter] 00:48:42

to hang out with for a little while. So what do you enjoy most about raising

[arlene_hunter] 00:48:47

your kids out where you are out on the land and being farm kids, being

[arlene_hunter] 00:48:50

ranch kids?

it's really cool and it is that it's it's honestly such a privilege as

farmers that we get to share a profession so much with our kids. You know

if you compare it to a doctor or an accountant or so many other professions

that their professional life is completely separate from their home and

family life. Whereas our kids are everyday parts of our farm. been very,

very conscious about involving our kids since the time that they were old

enough to cart a five gallon pail across the yard to feed calves or whatever.

There's been a lot of times where that's been a struggle because it would

be far easier to either do it ourselves or to have one of the hired guys

do it. But we've always really, really wanted and made it a priority for our

kids to be involved. And now I'm so happy that we... that we went through

that struggle and we tried so hard to do that because both of my kids,

they're better equipment operators than I am. They're better at handling cattle

than I am. So that's really great to see and they are still young enough

that I don't know for sure if either of them will want to farm full time

after, you know, into their adulthood, but they're definitely prepared

to. You know, they have all the skills needed. So I think that is definitely

the coolest part about farming with family. And, you know, it's not only a

little bit easier probably for farmers to involve their kids like that,

but it's also just a cultural thing in agriculture that we do want to see

our kids involved and that it's when you look around at other neighboring

farms too. There's a lot of kids that are involved and that's, you know,

when I think about my marketing off-farm job, sure, when I maybe have some

discussions about that over the supper table, yeah, for sure, but it's

not the same as being immersed in it like farm kids are.

[arlene_hunter] 00:51:05

and it's harder to explain to your kids, you know, if you were... you

[arlene_hunter] 00:51:10

know, a doctor and you're operating on someone and be like, okay, and so then I

[arlene_hunter] 00:51:13

got the scalpel, you know, like versus like, let's go to the barn, there's

[arlene_hunter] 00:51:17

a cow calving or yeah, like we have to go to the field and go do this thing.

[arlene_hunter] 00:51:21

And to get to be

Yes.

[arlene_hunter] 00:51:22

able to have them there and experience it and whether or not they understand

[arlene_hunter] 00:51:27

it when they're little or not doesn't matter. It's the fact that they've,

[arlene_hunter] 00:51:29

they've seen it and then they can ask questions or, you know, then

Yep.

[arlene_hunter] 00:51:33

they'll do it again the next season or see

And

[arlene_hunter] 00:51:36

it again.

I also think it's important for them to see the shit show that happens

on farms and the problem solving and how you navigate through all of the bad

things. Because I think in today's day and age, a lot of kids don't see

firsthand the adversity that their parents have to go through. Whereas right

there, literally in front of our kids' faces.

ever their future holds for them, they will be better at navigating through

adversity and figuring the shit out as it happens because they've seen

us do it so much and now they're at the point where they're doing it too. You

know, they're, my son was out swathing this past fall and he knocked a bunch

of blades off and he had to, he was out in the middle of nowhere so he had

to fix it himself. Perfect. That is great. You had to figure it out. and

that will bode well for him, even if he becomes a surgeon. Oh, you, something

goes wrong in the surgery. It's an automatic, well, what do I do to figure

this out?

[arlene_hunter] 00:52:46

Yeah,

I think that's

[arlene_hunter] 00:52:46

and for

such

[arlene_hunter] 00:52:47

better,

a good...

[arlene_hunter] 00:52:47

for worse. Sorry, I was just gonna say, and for better or worse, seeing

[arlene_hunter] 00:52:51

how we respond to that adversity too, where sometimes it might not always be

[arlene_hunter] 00:52:57

pretty, but if we're trying to model, okay, this happened and we're gonna

[arlene_hunter] 00:53:02

figure it out ourselves, or we're gonna ask for help, or we're gonna take

[arlene_hunter] 00:53:06

a minute and collect our thoughts and then start again, how we respond to the

[arlene_hunter] 00:53:13

things that are frustrating to us is hopefully we can give that as examples

[arlene_hunter] 00:53:19

how to proceed when things don't go the way you want them to.

I think too that's such a good point about our kids knowing what we do because so

many of us with, you know, I work from home but remotely and I found out the other

day that my six-year-old thinks I'm a ninja. You know, so them having a real understanding

of what we actually do and watching them, you know, my kids are younger but watching

them apply what they're learning in... useful ways. I mean, knowing math is a good

thing. Being able to count actual eggs while we're making dinner or while we're getting

them from the chicken coop is practical and makes sense to them, you know, and being

able to actually be helpful. I mean, little kids are basically the least helpful

creatures on Earth, but they really want to help, you know? And it's so nice to

have so many more opportunities to let them help with things that if they make

a mess, it doesn't matter as much as if they're making a mess in the house, you

know. And I know for us at least the teaching respect for living things. Arlene,

I did talk the girl child out of the live hamster because I pointed out that it

was probably going to get eaten. But just the, you know. You can't hit the dog just

because you're mad, because the dog is a living thing with feelings. We have to

feed cattle even if you don't want to, because they are living things. And I think

that's such a good extension of, we respect other people because they're living

things, to spread that to a wider basis. So tell us about all the horrible things that

your kids have done, and all the, what your biggest struggles have been. Because your

kids are old enough to have, like, really done some shit. My kids are still

Ha ha

at

ha!

the, like, they drew on the wall phase, which is irritating, but not, like, actively

dangerous.

Yeah, my son went through that phase too and that's I remember I distinctly

still remember posting about that being like spankings will never go out

of style in my house as long as drawing in the walls never goes out of style

in my kid's life. Which, ugh, yeah, kids. And also he comes by it naturally

because my husband when he was my kid's age at that time he not only spray

painted the side of their machinery quonset, he spray painted his name. Like who

did he think was gonna get blamed from that? Honestly. So, you know, genetics

again are such a thing and sometimes you need to be more careful about

the bully you choose. But my kids are pretty good. They, I mean, probably

every mom says that. They drive me absolutely bonkers. What I think is the

most amazing to me is how different the two of them are, the girl and the boy.

And I don't know if it's just straight up different personalities or if it's

that a girl is genetically that much different than a boy. But you know,

my girl definitely went through the hormone phase and the mood swings and figuring

all that part out. But she's always been pretty easy. She's very chill.

she has not required a huge amount of parenting. And the boy is like bounce

off the walls active, holes in walls, all sorts of stupid shit that just

requires constant parenting. And they both have wonderful intentions, but

I think that has been the hardest thing is to adjust the parenting to the kid.

because they just require completely different things for me. Yeah, I yell at my

son a lot, like probably more than is healthy. And yet if I raise my voice

to my daughter at all, it is like instant regret because it just affects

her completely differently. So I

[arlene_hunter] 00:57:46

Yeah,

think

[arlene_hunter] 00:57:46

you just broke her heart.

that is the biggest thing. Yes, exactly. And usually the trouble that

they get into is pretty unintentional. Like there's been some, well, my daughter,

you know, broke the bailer a couple years ago from not paying attention.

My son, when he was four, tried to drive the quad through the garage door and,

you know, just dumb things that luckily nobody was injured doing. But

so far, like knock on wood because I feel like I'm tempting karma here

that they're kind of the police are going to show up at my door tomorrow or

something because you know never say never About your kids doing bad things.

I think I'm thankful that my kids are growing up now and not even ten years

ago I really feel for teenagers that had to figure out social media before

We as adults had it figured out even, right? Like the idea that things

live forever online and the stupid things that teenagers 10, 15 years ago

would put on social media compared to now. Now you have to be really dumb to do

some of those things whereas that gap generation between me and my kids

didn't have it all figured out yet. So. But I'm even more thankful that

I grew up in a time that there wasn't cameras and phones, and so none of my

dumb shit lives anywhere. Literally anywhere.

[arlene_hunter] 00:59:25

Same, yes, yeah, same, same, same.

I feel like

[arlene_hunter] 00:59:29

So one of the reasons.

that's such a thing we don't give kids credit for now too, is, you know, people say,

well, these dumb teenagers with their posting naked photos online, and like the only

reason we didn't was because we couldn't, because it wasn't a thing. Like, maybe you'd

take

Right?

a Polaroid and give it to somebody? Like what, you're not gonna go get those photos

developed? Like if you were gonna show your boobs to somebody, you had to like walk

up and show your boobs to them. And like... only

Yes.

one person saw it, you know? Where now, like, there's not a time gap or any like

effort gap that makes them think about what they're doing. And

rates.

adults aren't good at thinking about what we're doing when we do it. So there's

no way in hell teenagers should be. And it's not fair to blame them for doing stupid

shit when they've got... ways to do stupid shit that we never even dreamed of.

You know?

It's so

And...

true.

Anyway. They

Yeah,

probably still

so

shouldn't

far my

be showing

kid

their

first.

boobs on the internet, but...

So far my kids are smarter than I was at that age, so really what more

could I ask for? They're still gonna do dumb shit. Hopefully it just continues

to be less dumb shit than I did.

I just hope my kids

[arlene_hunter] 01:00:50

a

do

[arlene_hunter] 01:00:50

good

new

[arlene_hunter] 01:00:50

threshold.

dumb shit.

[arlene_hunter] 01:00:54

New

Yeah,

[arlene_hunter] 01:00:54

and innovative.

yeah, invent some new things.

[arlene_hunter] 01:00:57

Yeah. So one of the reasons

Have

[arlene_hunter] 01:01:00

that

an adventure.

[arlene_hunter] 01:01:00

I wanted to have you on, yeah, was to talk about teens, which we're doing.

[arlene_hunter] 01:01:04

But what do you love about the ages that they're at right now versus when

[arlene_hunter] 01:01:08

they were little guys? What do you love about having teenagers in your

[arlene_hunter] 01:01:11

house? Because it seems like we only ever talk about the bad stuff.

Right, I think honestly, this is my favorite stage of parenting hands down

easily. I love this stage and I think it's because my kids have found the

things that they're passionate about and you know when they're little and

you're carting them to like hockey practice and swim lessons and band and

piano and like all of the things because they still just don't know what they

like or what they don't. Whereas now like my son is so passionate about hockey.

He is on the ice almost every day of the week and he is working out at the

gym and worried about nutrition and sleep habits and all these things like

he lives it completely eats breathe sleeps it and It's just really cool

to watch that progression My daughter's really into horses. She shows raining

horses and You know the work and dedication that that requires I Think it's

just so cool that I not only get to be along for the ride like who am I

kidding? I am the ride because I'm still chauffeuring them around everywhere,

but I just get to watch them not only choose their things but but really

get good at it and and want to work hard at it. That just is so exciting

to me and means that I'm so excited to see that work ethic in them as adults

and that they're learning now how much of a difference that their hard work

on stuff. Like for example, with my son, how hard he works off the ice

directly relates to how his success on the ice. and that he can clearly

see that and is learning that and watching him learn that, I just think it's

so fun. I just love it. You know, all the other hard parts about teenagers

balancing their passions with their schoolwork and with their social lives

and trying to sort all that out, especially in a small town where your

circle is very small. Sometimes... I don't know what it's like down in the States,

but, or even out East, but sometimes small towns, Saskatchewan means that

there are, there are certain people in your town that don't like to see

other people succeed, which really sucks. But also at the same time, choosing

to step above that and pushing yourself and seeking out greater opportunities

than what can be found right here at home. That's a big, a big thing for

my kids. And also a big reason why there will be no option for them to stay

home as soon as they're done high school You are always welcome to come

back, but you have to go away for a while wherever that is whether that's

to university or learning a trade or Working somewhere else or traveling

the world like don't care what you want to go do great, but you can come back

later But you have to go

[arlene_hunter] 01:04:31

Yeah, there's something about, you know, kind of being in a small town. So

[arlene_hunter] 01:04:35

it, I mean, it teaches us that we have to learn to get along with people because,

[arlene_hunter] 01:04:40

you know, if you're on a farm, you're not going anywhere. So

Yes.

[arlene_hunter] 01:04:44

but but yeah, we also want to give our kids those opportunities to just

[arlene_hunter] 01:04:48

spread their wings a bit and see that there is a world out there. And then

[arlene_hunter] 01:04:52

if they choose to come back afterwards, then that's great. And if they

[arlene_hunter] 01:04:55

find something else that they're passionate about, then that's amazing, too.

[arlene_hunter] 01:04:59

Right.

Mm-hmm.

Sorry, I muted myself. So if someone was asking for your advice as a ranch parent,

what would you tell them?

tell them first of all definitely work hard to get your kids involved on the

ranch and on the farm. As much as we have that privilege and that availability

here it's not easy and a lot of farms now I see aren't choosing to go down

that path. A lot of farm kids are raised no different than town kids in that

they aren't directly involved on the farm. That segment I think is growing

every day. because as farms grow bigger, it is harder to keep your kids

involved. I would also say as much as my kids are passionate about their

activities, about their sports and whatnot, it also has been a priority of

mine to make sure that they balance that with having a social life, which

is hard because it's not. I don't know if there's many parents out there

saying, why don't you take the night off and go hang out with friends?

But I think it's important that they learn that balance early on as well.

It's really easy to get caught up in the grind, not only of the farm, but

of hockey or horses or whatever the passion is. And I think when I look back

at my life and my husband's life, balance isn't something. isn't the notion

of balance wasn't something that we were raised with. So it's it is something

that I want to see my kids be aware of and you know the navigation through

that. And then I would say that when it comes to teenagers every parent

of younger kids thinks that it will be easier as the older the kids get

the easier it will get. But the reality is the complete opposite. My kids

need me more now than they probably did as toddlers. Like when they're

toddlers, anybody can play with them, anybody can feed them and clothe

them and you know, whereas time with mom and dad is completely different

now, or whoever the caregiver is. I think that there's a very different emotional

need and it's not that we're sitting and specifically talking about our

feelings every single day. but it's just being there and the time in the

car and the time at the supper table and all of that is far more important

now than it's ever been.

[arlene_hunter] 01:07:48

That's a good reminder. The one thing that I found pandemic life difficult

[arlene_hunter] 01:07:55

in, I mean, for lots of ways, but with older kids was they weren't getting

[arlene_hunter] 01:07:59

that social time with their friends. And I think now it's it's almost a

[arlene_hunter] 01:08:04

little bit harder. Like, I have to push more, I think, now than, you know,

[arlene_hunter] 01:08:08

when I was a teenager, it was the other way around where it was like, can

[arlene_hunter] 01:08:11

you drive me here? Can you drive me to my friend's house? And now I'm

[arlene_hunter] 01:08:14

like, do you want to see your friends? Like, do you want me to? You know,

[arlene_hunter] 01:08:17

they they they talk online. feels like, you know, they see each other at

[arlene_hunter] 01:08:22

school and then they're like, yeah, you know, we'll just talk on Snapchat

[arlene_hunter] 01:08:25

or whatever and they don't need to actually hang out. But I'm like, you

[arlene_hunter] 01:08:29

could actually like be in the same room. You could go do something together.

[arlene_hunter] 01:08:33

You don't, you don't have to just talk, you know, virtually. You could actually

[arlene_hunter] 01:08:37

go and do something together. So I think that was a bit of a change that

[arlene_hunter] 01:08:42

I didn't, didn't really think about until the last year.

Yes, same here. Absolutely the same thing here. And I don't just see it

with my kids. I see it with all teenagers now. They just, they do less

together. And I don't know if it is a social media Snapchat thing or if

it is the hangover of the pandemic, but yeah, they are far less social. Lots of

them are far less active in sports or activities or whatever. I think it's

a very different time to pair. parent through for teenagers, for sure.

I know I have to say that I appreciate that my kids are still little enough that,

like, I do look forward to the day that they can shower by themselves and, like,

zip their own coats and that sort of, that aspect of parenting. But it is nice right

now that when my daughter comes home complaining about school it's that somebody

accidentally tripped her during gym class and it's not, you know, so-and-so said

they don't want to be by date for prom or whatever, like... They're big problems to

little people, but they're not big problems to big people, where it seems like

teenagers have the capability to get into a lot more trouble than little ones do.

You know, I mean, my kids don't go anywhere that I don't take them. They don't

buy anything that I don't buy for them. Like, there's no, you know, they're pretty

limited in what they can get up to, you know, especially living this far from town.

It's, uh, uh, teenagers. All right.

Definitely the bonus of living in small towns or by small towns is that everybody

knows everything. So when my kids be in a shithead, I'm gonna hear about

it within 24 hours, guaranteed. Which is really a good thing. I can't imagine

the difficulties of raising kids in large urban centres where you literally

don't know any of your neighbours or... have a different connection point even

with the school. It would be, as someone who has only lived in urban centers

to go to university, I can't even imagine navigating that. That would be

completely out of my realm of experience.

Yeah, it is, you know, my kids are in a small community daycare in a small public

school and it is really nice to know the other kids' parents and, you know, I hear

about shit my kids have gotten up to before they get home from daycare, you know,

and it's nice to be able to ask about other kids' families and other kids' parents

and, you know, sort of vet people that way. And it is. As stifling as small towns

can be, it is nice to have that overview.

So we ask all of our guests if you were going to dominate a category at a county

fair, what would it be? And categories can be real or made up.

Well, I grew up traveling the county equivalent of county fairs here in Saskatchewan,

showing horses. So I have a lot of experience. My whole summers would be

spent at fairs. And so I will say the number one most important thing about

fair life is to understand that to never ever make eye contact with a

carney. because then you're getting sucked in for something. And especially

if you're a teenage girl, then really don't make eye contact with a Kearney.

But I would, so I would rock the horse show aspect of it. You throw me on

horse and I can make you go do some fun stuff. But as for, you know, normal

county fair stuff now, I would be the queen at doing food reviews of all of

the food booths. That is what I would want to do now. And

[arlene_hunter] 01:12:59

Oh.

the weirder the food the more fun it would be. I think I can I can definitely

see myself going down that path and just like traveling to every fair

and doing reviews on the corndogs and the elephant ears and the up here poutine,

very important, and figuring out, you know, what all the best food spots

are.

[arlene_hunter] 01:13:29

a good one. I was thinking you were going to say like judging like you

[arlene_hunter] 01:13:32

know the pies and stuff you know that people enter but I like your your

[arlene_hunter] 01:13:35

version too that uh that it's a it's both a service that you're offering

[arlene_hunter] 01:13:41

the community and something that you're uh you would enjoy as well. So

[arlene_hunter] 01:13:48

I

Exactly.

[arlene_hunter] 01:13:48

guess we'll move ahead

Mostly

[arlene_hunter] 01:13:49

into

selfishly

[arlene_hunter] 01:13:50

our

I would just enjoy it.

[arlene_hunter] 01:13:52

well well yeah but then you can warn other people if the

[arlene_hunter] 01:14:02

So we'll go ahead and move into our Cussing and Discussing segment. We've

[arlene_hunter] 01:14:04

registered for an online platform so listeners can leave their Cussing and Discussing

[arlene_hunter] 01:14:08

entries for us and we will play them on the show. So go to speakpipe.com

[arlene_hunter] 01:14:12

backslash barnyardlanguage and leave us a voice memo or you can always

[arlene_hunter] 01:14:15

send us an email at barnyardlanguage.gmail.com or check the show notes and the links should

[arlene_hunter] 01:14:20

be there. So Katie, what have you got to Cuss and Discuss this week?

that people take this in the not intended to be offensive manner in which it may or may

not come out. I really wish that there was some sort of remedial girliness classes

for those of us who were not raised by girly people because like I'm looking at

Adrienne and I'm like you know what I bet her kid shows up to county fair with

like her hair braided right and her horse's hair braided right and like

[arlene_hunter] 01:14:48

Oh, she's shaking her head. No, you can't see it, people. But Adrienne

[arlene_hunter] 01:14:51

says that's

My

[arlene_hunter] 01:14:52

not

daughter

[arlene_hunter] 01:14:52

a thing.

keeps asking to grow her hair out, and I'm like, honey, I don't, like, I can't

be in charge of this. I keep my hair short because I can't deal with it. And by

short, I do not mean when people say, oh, I have short hair because it's only to

my shoulders. I mean, no, mine is like two inches. And so I just feel a little bad

that I can't, I am not good at the girly girl stuff that my girly girl daughter

wants to do. And I just... Part of me was, you know... I mean, I was raised by

a strong, hippie feminist, and part of me is like, well, to hell with the, you

know, the status quo of girly girlness. But also, my kid really likes it, and it's

not hurting anything. But I'm not good at it, and it makes me grumpy. So there's...

[arlene_hunter] 01:15:43

I

Oh,

[arlene_hunter] 01:15:43

still

I

[arlene_hunter] 01:15:43

can't do

so...

[arlene_hunter] 01:15:43

a French braid.

me neither! I cannot, I can, I can braid a horse's tail because it's big

and right there and that's about it. Like, oh, I can't, it has taken me

a very, very long time to figure out how to actually like properly apply mascara,

let alone all the contouring and stuff that people do now that I don't even

actually know what that means. let alone be able to do it myself.

[arlene_hunter] 01:16:11

No,

So,

[arlene_hunter] 01:16:11

there's too many brushes

and that's why

[arlene_hunter] 01:16:12

and

my hair

[arlene_hunter] 01:16:13

sponges.

is long is because, yes, the only thing that I can do is a ponytail and

I don't do that pretty, I do that like functional. So.

I end up getting mine caught in car doors when it's longer. So it seemed like,

no, legitimately it has happened multiple times. It seems like a safety thing at this

point to not, like,

[arlene_hunter] 01:16:33

That must be very long hair. It's

no,

[arlene_hunter] 01:16:36

one

it just,

[arlene_hunter] 01:16:36

extreme or the other, with you, Katie. I

I

[arlene_hunter] 01:16:38

never

have

[arlene_hunter] 01:16:38

bought a

a lot

[arlene_hunter] 01:16:38

hair.

of it. Yeah. It doesn't take much. Anyway.

Well, if there's those remedial classes sign me up to, I'll join you over Zoom

to do them because I got a lot of learning to do in that area too, which

also did not help my daughter at all. She luckily was not very into that

stuff, but now that she is a teenager and she would like to occasionally,

you know, apply some makeup or do her hair, and I'm like, I don't know,

here's the one thing that I can do. So,

[arlene_hunter] 01:17:10

That's

you

[arlene_hunter] 01:17:10

what

know,

[arlene_hunter] 01:17:10

YouTube's for.

right?

[arlene_hunter] 01:17:13

There's millions of makeup tutorials. I'm not going to watch them, but

Yeah.

[arlene_hunter] 01:17:17

if my daughter wants to figure it out, then yeah.

I will say I'm really...

[arlene_hunter] 01:17:21

That's the good side of social media.

Yes.

I am really proud though that the little boy last night after his bath asked if we could

do nail polish so he could be extra pretty. I was like, well, maybe we can

Aww.

do it tomorrow right after school so it'll be dry, but absolutely. You know, and

then he wants like green and blue so it can be like John Deere and New Holland,

you know, because we're that family, but

[arlene_hunter] 01:17:46

Yeah,

that's fine.

[arlene_hunter] 01:17:47

the farm nail polish.

Yeah.

[arlene_hunter] 01:17:48

Perfect. Have you got any orange?

I was just thinking about the repercussions of a makeup line for farm kids. Anyway, Adrian,

what do you have to custom discuss?

So what has been annoying me lately has been personal space. So perhaps

it's because I live in the middle of nowhere. But so I frequently have

to head into the city to hit up Costco, which I think maybe is called Sam's

Club down in the States or is there Costco down there too?

two

Um,

separate businesses. Costco

okay.

is my happy place though, so I gotcha.

Yeah, well it can be mine too because I love what they sell and I love buying

in bulk and all of that but people's lack of personal space in today's

day and age, I just can't handle it and like you there's we're in a giant warehouse.

There's no need to like press yourself up against me or your cart or whatever

like my personal space bubble maybe is quite large but I just every time

I go to the city now I just am like cringing constantly at the people that

are like right up in your grill and for what

[arlene_hunter] 01:19:15

And

just

[arlene_hunter] 01:19:15

you'd think

take

[arlene_hunter] 01:19:15

we

a

[arlene_hunter] 01:19:15

would

step

[arlene_hunter] 01:19:15

have been

back

[arlene_hunter] 01:19:15

getting better at this, right? Like, use this, like, let's stick

Yeah!

[arlene_hunter] 01:19:20

with the six to eight feet, or whatever the rules were before, when we

[arlene_hunter] 01:19:23

had to stay away from

Right.

[arlene_hunter] 01:19:24

each other. I'm okay with keeping that rule forever.

Ditto.

[arlene_hunter] 01:19:30

we can, a full cart length is good.

Yeah.

admit that when people do shit like getting in line behind you and then they just

get closer and closer like that's magically gonna make things faster I will unload my cart

so slowly because I refuse to reward that behavior by actually hurrying

Yeah.

Arlene, what do you have to discuss today?

[arlene_hunter] 01:19:54

So I didn't actually have anything written down and I figured I would get inspired

[arlene_hunter] 01:19:57

as we were talking. And so one thing that I've been thinking about is

[arlene_hunter] 01:20:02

as our kids get older, they get more independent, which is fantastic. But

[arlene_hunter] 01:20:07

I would still like a little bit of communication from the school once in

[arlene_hunter] 01:20:11

a while. And it feels like it's completely dropped off. And... That could

[arlene_hunter] 01:20:17

be that everything's perfectly fine and there's no issues, or it could be

[arlene_hunter] 01:20:22

that my kid is messing up and I'm not going to find out until I get a report

[arlene_hunter] 01:20:26

card, or they've been suspended or something. Like I really have no idea because,

[arlene_hunter] 01:20:32

and I don't want to be super gendered about it, but my boys give me so little

[arlene_hunter] 01:20:37

detail about what goes on in their daily life that I really have no concept

[arlene_hunter] 01:20:46

far as like to contact like the the friends parents and be like so how

[arlene_hunter] 01:20:52

are things at school for my kid maybe your daughter has told me because

[arlene_hunter] 01:20:56

I know that they're friends with each other so yeah I just like I don't

[arlene_hunter] 01:21:01

need like the daily progress reports like we used to get when they were

[arlene_hunter] 01:21:04

in elementary school but I don't know maybe an email once every couple

[arlene_hunter] 01:21:08

of weeks to be nice but I know that teachers are overworked so I shouldn't

[arlene_hunter] 01:21:12

ask for too much but like just a few hints

It is true and I find that in our school there is a massive difference

from teacher to teacher on what communication looks like.

[arlene_hunter] 01:21:26

Mm-hmm.

There are all, thanks probably to COVID, there are all sorts of communication

tools available now that that our school as a whole can utilize and some

teachers choose to and some choose very much not to and I think perhaps

it just comes down to personal preference and also different levels of personal

organization.

[arlene_hunter] 01:21:54

Yeah, I don't doubt the teachers have a ton of things going on, but I guess

[arlene_hunter] 01:21:57

as I've got one in grade nine, as a new high school student, I'm struggling

[arlene_hunter] 01:22:01

with the adjusting to no communication coming from the school. And I guess we're in

[arlene_hunter] 01:22:08

exam week, so I mean in another week or two, we'll get that report card and

[arlene_hunter] 01:22:11

we'll find out

Right.

[arlene_hunter] 01:22:12

what

Today

[arlene_hunter] 01:22:13

happened

is report

[arlene_hunter] 01:22:13

this semester.

card day for our kids. So I'm going to find out today. Uh,

[arlene_hunter] 01:22:17

Yeah, today was

both

[arlene_hunter] 01:22:18

our

of my

[arlene_hunter] 01:22:18

last

kids.

[arlene_hunter] 01:22:18

day of exams, so we're pretty close.

Okay.

[arlene_hunter] 01:22:20

Yeah. Sounds good.

Yeah. So both of my kids miss a lot of school for their respective sports.

Um, which I'm not worried about because they both excel at school, but also

my grade nine or same thing. Like it's a different level of communication

even between him and his teachers right now as to whether or not they are. communicating

with him specific assignments that he's missed or things like that. And we

always, we tell both of our kids when you are missing school, then it's

no one else's job to chase you. You need to approach your teachers and

ask them for what you're missing. But I then am completely out of the loop and

[arlene_hunter] 01:23:04

Yeah, hopefully that's happening.

there have been specific classes where it's been a struggle and the marks have

shown that. So yeah, I would agree. It's a struggle, definitely.

[arlene_hunter] 01:23:18

Yeah, and we go from knowing every single thing about our kids, right? From

Yes!

[arlene_hunter] 01:23:24

their favorite color to whether they had a bath last night or not to, yeah,

[arlene_hunter] 01:23:29

hardly feeling like we don't know anything anymore. Oh, kids.

Yes.

[arlene_hunter] 01:23:36

All right. Thank you so much, Adrienne, for joining us today on the podcast.

[arlene_hunter] 01:23:39

If people want to follow you online or get in touch, where should they find

[arlene_hunter] 01:23:42

you?

So on Instagram and Facebook it's view from the ranch porch you can search

me up there. Twitter is under my own name, Adrienne Ivy, the blog that I

haven't wrote anything on in two years you know but you can always search

it up it's view from the ranch

[arlene_hunter] 01:24:00

Yeah.

porch.com I don't know why you would want to but Instagram definitely

is where I spend most of my time It's where I met you lovely ladies and

definitely where my happy place is. So that's where I hope to meet some of

the people listening so that I can follow back.

[arlene_hunter] 01:24:21

Thank you so much, it was great to talk to you.

Thanks for coming

I appreciate

on, Adrienne.