I AM SO PROUD

Angela at an early age with all of her dogs. She told us then that she wanted to be a vet and have one of every type of dog on her farm.


Angela with her White Coat, a ceremony at the beginning of the first year where students get their own white coat, stethascope and name tag. The start of their future.


Angela at 5 when Blue was born, and she was already showing lots of confidence.


first day on the steps of the Vet College in Saskatoon.


Can't find the right picture but Angela delivered triplet kids all on her own.


Again showing no fear and all confidence with the young horses.


Working with Fern Valley cattle, castrating, vaccinating and ear tagging


Staying with the little calf, making sure it was okay.


Teaching the dog the benefits of a good balanced diet.


Working with her chickens


Swimming with the turtles in hawaii, trying to decide if she wants to be a marine vet.


Angela has always loved frogs. Remember once we were visiting her cousins in Wpg at their cottage and she came back with her sweater hood and pockets full of frogs. Wanted to take them all home.


Whether guines pigs, rabbits, ferrets, etc. Angela loves them all.


I need to brag here a little. As a proud mom I want to let everyone know that my little girl Angela (dvm2012) received some great news. She passed her NAVLE (North American Veterinary Licensicn Exam). All she needs now is to cross that stage on June 7th and receive her Degree and she will officially be Dr. Angela Oakley,DVM
WCVM Class of 2012. This is of course is not the final step to what she has always wanted but just another chapter. We should however, start from the beginning.
Ever since Angela was a young girl barely able to walk, she has loved animals and wanted to be a vet. She has a special gift. People say she got her love of animals and kind heart from me but I must disagree and say she got these special gifts from her Papa. He was an amazing man. He never said a harsh word or raised a hand in anger to people and especially to animals. He had animals following him home from walks, dogs just gravitated to him. Even my first horse, Big Red, who distrusted men from being abused, loved my dad. Red would do anything for him and Dad could do no wrong. Angela unfortunately never knew her Papa. He passed away when she was two. I think part of him remains with her and he would be so proud of her right now.
When Angela was a little girl, she would bring home all kinds of critters. We had many pets, gerbils, hamsters, rabbits, birds, turtles, horses. If she could of, we would of had a virtual Noah's ark. A couple of stories stand out for me. Can't remember how old she was but she found a baby squirrel and I mean really small, probably just a couple weeks old. It had fallen from the nest so she brought it in, made a nest for it and looked after it. She hand fed it with and eye dropper every two hours, including during the night. She was exhausted but insisted on trying to keep it alive. Well as nature would have it, the poor little thing didn't last more than a couple days but it was then that we could see her compassion and committment to helping all animals. We have fixed birds, taken in stray kittens, and numerous other critters.
Her passion and committment toward being a vet really took hold when we moved our old horse Schiroc to Fernvalley and came involved more with Sherry and helping her with the animals and the day to day activities of the farm. Sherry was very willing and comfortable in letting Angela tag along and observe how she did things.Also growing up with Animals, especially dogs and horses, Angela became very comfortable around the animals of the farm. After a few years, she was actually allowed to participate in vaccinating and treating the animals. All three of our children have a love and respect for animals and nature, but Angela is the most committed to making it her life.
When Angela first started University, she was talked into going into human medicine instead of veterinary medicine. She tried this for one semester and realized her heart and soul were not in it. She returned to Veterinary and has never second guessed herself again. While in University she worked her summers doing research with the University working with chickens and dairy cattle. In fact, she has an article published about her findings with nutrition in dairy cattle. She collaborated with the Professor she was working for.
Then thanks to her Aunty Sherry she was able to volunteer with Onoway vet for a summer. This started at the time of the BSE crisis and after one incident, she agian was questioning whether she could do this. Another year of school and maturity and she again volounteered with the clinic and this time her mind was made up. After two years at the U of A, she applied to the Western College of Veterinary Medicine in Saskatoon and was accepted for the graduating class of 2012. In the four years since starting vet school, she has worked somewhere in the field of Veterinary medicine. She took two externships in the US at equine facilities, worked on diary farms, mixed practices, helped on Fern Valley Farms and now in her last semester she is heading to Winnipeg to work at the Canadian Diesase control facility for two weeks. She is working with Animal Welfare department, checking feed lots, processing plants, farms, ranches etc. Angela has always been a very determined and focused young lady and we are so proud of her and know that wherever she goes for her career, she will do nothing but give her best and put the animals first.

She now has to love, two horses, one cat, two love birds, a school of fish and is hoping to add a puppy as soon as she settles into her first actual job after graduating.
I hope you have enjoyed this chapter.

SOME OF THE SAME

The day I bought her.



Schiroc in her later years



Angela on Schiroc



Schiroc and I in our hey day



She and I would spend quality time together quite often



Schiroc in her younger years



Cowboy bob and his mighty steed



Miss Cara on Schiroc



My first ride on her



Peps the first day I saw her

After reading Sherry's (Fernvalley) blog today and seeing the honorable mention of Schiroc, I felt inspired to add to her story. I originally blogged about Schiroc on March 17, 2010 but only hit the surface of who this mare was. Now that I have lost her son Blue, I find I really miss her and all that she taught me. I bought her on November 11, 1983. She was just 14 mths old. A real wild filly but I fell in love with her at first site. Now I didn't know much about riding let alone training a horse. She taught me both. I learned patience, kindness, loyalty and friendship. She would do anything for me. She taught all three of my kids how to ride and respect horses. I was told right from the start that she wouldn't amount to much. She was so small and fine. She was appaloosa/quarter horse but had some Arab in her somewhere. Her sire was registered so was able to find her bloodlies on her sire's side and sure enough there was an arab way back in the line but she still had the small refined arab head. She would go anywhere and do anything. We did many cancer rides, jumping clinics, endurance riding, chased cows and whatever else happened to come along. I remember one insidence where a bunch of us were riding and they are all on their arabs or thoroughbreds and putting down my little appy. I siad she could jump over anything so we kept upping the stakes with each round. They thinking, oh this time we'll stop her for sure. Well three straw bales high and two bales proved to be too much for their horses. My little appy cleared those bales like nothing. Another time I had her boared at a friend's place and his arabs were chasing her and putting her in a corner so she jumped the fence and headed down the road to a fancy boarding place where they put her in a nice stall, lots of hay and noone bugging her. She was also boarded at a warmblood stable and the owner used to laugh at how this little horse put those big warmbloods in their place. She spent her last years at Fernvalley and that's where she taught my kids how to ride, presented me with my boy Blue and enjoyed her senior years. She died peacefully there and was cremated on the farm and so was Blue. She maynot be there in body but she is still there in another wrapping. My new mare Peps doesn't look like her much anymore but she still does things that Schiroc did and I know that she was sent to me so that Schiroc could live on forever with me. I have bred Peps to Cactus and am hoping for a new black and white foal this spring. I still hope to breed her to Phoenix, Chile's last son and see if we can produce another Blue. Peps and Chile are from the same bloodlines. HIs sire's and her dam's lines are related. Her story could fill many pages. Sherry has written poems about both of my wonderful horses. With her permission, I hope to pose these to my blog. My blogger name greymareschiroc was made for her. I hope you enjoy the pictures.

AUTUMN CHANGES SO FAST

Autumns first bath



Time to play in the leaves



Here Mom, let me help you with that.

I've been meaning to update all week but like FV says, time management is an issue. With me too I guess. Since I last posted, it has been a very busy time. Was at a conference on the weekend, Friday and Saturday. It was too nice to spend all of a beautiful autumn day inside so snuck out early and helped hubby with the fall clean up. We live on a corner lot in a very old tree lined neighbourhood. Needless to say we get a ton of leaves to rake up every year. This year, I must say was a lot of fun. We had our own little Autumn helping us. Saturday she decided to help with the bags. As I was filling, she was redistributing. Then on Sunday, she decided it was play time not work time. She is growing up so fast. She is now 12 weeks old, 25 lbs, a foot high and two feet long. A little dog now, not a puppy. Then on Wednesday, it was bath day. After playing in the leaves and digging holes in the yard, she was not the pretty cream colour, more of a muted gray. So in the bath tub for a quick bath and then a blow dry. She wasn't sure at first, but in the end, she seemed to be fine with it all. We're going on three half hour walks a day now so I am really starting to feel the difference. My clothes fit better and I am feeling alot better physically too. Heading back out to the lake for the weekend and hopefully get a ride in on either Digger or Peps or both and maybe even talk FV into coming with me. I know Johnnie would love to get out. It seems all I blog about now is the puppy but really the rest of my life is pretty ordinary. Nothing new with my kids right now, everyone is just busy with their own lives. Angela (DVM2012) is coming home the first two weeks of November to study for her NAVLE, (Licensing exam). Should see her for abit though. I know she'll want to see both of her ponies, which means I might get a chance to go for a ride with her as well. Have a nice weekend everyone.

AUTUMN MEETS WINSTON

This is one of Sherry's favorite of Autumn on the weekend. The kittens had ventured up the hill so she thought she could follow.


this is Eurus when he arrived home from Saskatoon. I am not that short, he is just a very tall horse.



Robert and Cara cleaning up the leaves



Autumn playing with Winston

Since the whirlwind trip to Saskatoon, it has been a very busy week.Eurs has settled in well in his new digs.It was Thanksgiving and we had 2 out of 3 kids home. Robert came up from Medicine Hat and our youngest Cara managed to find some time to spend with us out at the cottage. Brian and the 2 of them did some fall clean up. Raked and disposed of all the leaves, put the boat away for another year and positioned the snowmobiles to the front of the garage for easy access oncce the snow arrives. Helped Sherry (FV) wean the babies and also ran up the calves to be tagged and readied for the truck. Had fun, although I haven't run that much in a long time, so I was definitely feeling it. It was a good feeling though. I did some good exercise and got some fresh air and was able to burn off a little built up stress. Also our little girl Autumn got to meet Winston and Skeeter. Winston was a saint with her but Skeeter never was one for young pups.Took Winston a bit but wasn't long before he was down on his back playing with her. She also met some of the kittens and couldn't figure out why they wouldn't play with her like Elliott the cat did. Sherry also guided me through the procedure of giving Autumn her second set of shots. She is such a good girl. Pretty much house trained now. Hasn't had an accident in the house and has been left alone twice now and no problem. She sleeps about 7 or 8 hrs a night and I can leave the door open and she doesn't wander the house. So till next time, enjoy the beautiful "autumn" Ha ha

RUNNING BACK TO SASKATOON

Elliott in the suit bag making sure he didn't get left behind.



This is how Autumn spent most of the road trip

Whew! What a whirlwind of a weekend. Had to take a road trip this weekend to pick up Angela's (DVM2012) horse Eurus from Saskatoon. She won't have alot of time this coming winter to ride him so felt it was better to have him home here than pay high boarding fees and he couldn't stay at where he was. He had been at a temporary location for the last week of September. Felt since we were going anyway we would return Mr. Elliott the cat back to her. She has been on an extended externship and vacation. So weekend started with hubby heading to Fernvalley to pick up the truck and trailer. I need to thank Sherry (FV) for loaning us her new trailer and her hubby's truck. We couldn't have done this otherwise. Hubby gets back to the city with the unit and we load up Elliott and Autumn who is just 9 weeks old and we head east. This is a 5 to 6 hour trip.I must say the trip went really well. Puppy waited till we got gas at Lloydminster, 2 1/2 hrs, east of Edmonton and then we stopped at a little place called Maidstone Saskatchewan for a lunch break. Got to Saskatoon at about 3:30 p.m. just when Ange and her brother Rob arrived from Winnipeg. Ange and I went and saw Eurus, who was very excited to see her and then went back to her place and unloaded the cat and the dog, who met two more cats. They didn't think to much of this fur ball hell on wheels. She stayed the night with Angela. I must say, it was really nice having a good night's sleep. The hotel was quiet and no puppy to look after. Mini holiday for me. Next morning, Ange met us with Puppy and we headed to Eurus's old location to pick up her tack and other tons of stuff and then head to get Eurus. He is located 40 klms east of Saskatoon, heading the wrong direction for us. After getting him loaded we head out for another 6 hour drive west, actually 7 because we had to take him to Sherry's sister-in-laws place which is about an hour west of Edmonton. Stopped in Edmonton first to drop off Puppy at home and then continued on. Eurus seemed no worse for wear. He travelled really well. Settled in to the hay right away. It was quite the adventure, but being parents, you do what needs to be done to help out your kids. I think Angela is very fortunate to have a very special Auntie who too cannot say no and goes out of her way to help her as much as possible. A big thank you to Sherry again and to her sister in-law Connie and Neice Rene for taking in Eurus whether it be short term of for the long haul, we don't know but appreciate very much all that everyone has done to make this unfortunate situation a much better experience. Although we miss Elliott the cat, things are somewhat calmer around here and Autumn is having no trouble keeping her self occupied. Looking forward to a quiet Thanksgiving out at the cottage. Autumn had her vet check in Saskatoon and passed with flying colours. She can meet her new friends Winston and Skeeter this weekend. Should be fun.

AUTUMN IS HERE

This is the Autumn the week we brought her home.

This is her and Elliott the cat during a time out

This is my little "EWOK"

Now this can be taken two ways. One the season Autumn has arrived with a bang. We actually hit 32 degrees (celcius) that is for the first time this year. The weather has been unbelievable this month. The colours are stunning. Went out in the boat the other night and the setting sun reflecting off the golden trees was breathtaking. I always enjoy keeping the boat in that extra month to enjoy the colours and peacefulness of the lake. Two, my little Autumn is now almost 9 weks old. I weighed her this morning and my scale must be wrong as it said the difference between holding her and not holding her on the scale was 16 lbs. She cannot possibly weigh that much. She is growing fast and her potty training is going well. Sleeps about 6 hours at night now and when she does wake up, she wakes us up to go out. The only time she has an accident is when she is so busy rough housing with the cat that she forgets. She knows she's done bad cause if you say her name and ask what have you done, she sulks and slinks off. We started walking on a leash this past week. We are now going around the block, although she'd rather go without but she is getting to fast for me to catch her now and in the city don't want to take a chance of her running onto the road. At the lake, she can run free. She loves to sleep on her back and her ears flip back and she looks like an EWOK from Starwars fame. I could go on and on about her. All I'll say is that is sure is nice having her around and having another dog in my life. "OUR WHOLE LIFE DOES NOT REVOLVE AROUND DOGS, BUT HAVING AND LOVING DOGS MAKES OUR LIFE WHOLE" Truer words cannot be said

MY SWEET GIRL IS HERE

Boy, what a birthday present! Picked up our sweet pup "OAKLEY'S AUTUMN" on Friday. We weren't home 5 minutes and she and the cat were wrestling and tearing around the house. Don't know how many laps they did. We've never really been into crate training, so potty training consists of watching the pup and trying to guess when she needs to go outside. The first night, everytime she moved, I got up thinking she needed to go outside. We took her to the cottage on Saturday. She loved it out there. She even got to go for a boat ride. Quite soemthing considering the other two were never allowed even when they were adult dogs. Another sign of this one being spoiled is I brought her into bed this morning. Mistake! Her morning nap happened cuddled up between the pillows. Don't have my camera here as I left it in the car when we went to pick her up or I would've posted a picture of this. So this morning there were four of us in the bed, me, hubby, Autumn and the cat Elliot. I have forgotten after 13 years, how much work puppies are but I'm sure when she's six months old and not the cute little fur ball she is now I will be wishing she was a puppy again. They grow so fast. Luckily the breeder sent home a CD of pictures of her as she grew for the first seven weeks. I don't have too many of my own yet. I will definitely have to get some of her in the fallen leaves. Won't be able to find her.