Monday, July 22, 2013

Small towns just stay close

Really no matter how far you move away from your small town...it never leaves you. You can take the girl off the farm, but you will NEVER drag the farm out of the girl. I grew up on a small acreage in Saskatchewan. I can milk cows and goats, herd sheep, ride horses, shovel all kinds of poop and as much as a kid will complain about that at the time...in my adulthood I do appreciate those skills. I still love the smell of the farm and I remember with a certain amount of fondness the hard work that went into that life. In my teenage years there were 2 ways to make money. You could pick chickens or you could babysit. Both had their own separate hazards. LOL I babysat for lots of families but some of my favourites were the Roy brothers. There were 5 of them. Oh pick your jaw up off the ground my friend, they were the sweetest kids you could meet. Rowdy, but sweet as can be.  They had every animal in God's creation and I loved them all. The Roy kids will forever be just that in my mind. Kids. But you know the funny thing about that? They grew up. As much as my mind holds onto all the fun, fond memories...they just grew up. They grew and learned and fell in love. Got married, had babies of their own. They own property, have jobs and are teaching a new generation.

Alright then, enough with my nostalgia. I have a point.  Really, I do.

One of the boys recently sustained a very serious injury. He is a top rated bull rider, was having the most amazing year of his career and it was put on hold when he was stepped on by a bull. I am simplifying the situation terribly but what it comes down to is this: Bull Riders never have guaranteed income. And there is no insurance. If you are great, you make a living. If you get injured...well...you don't. And that is where that tight knit community comes in that I was talking about before. People all over the country are rallying around this family to make sure ends are met while this young man recovers from his injuries. And what kind of babysitter would I be if I didn't join in?  They have a closed group on Facebook (only 3,500+ close, personal friends) where people can donate items to be bid on by the other members of the group and all proceeds go to this wonderful family to help with expenses. Check out the story CTV News did this past week.

So. Point of this blog post. I am donating a custom piece of home décor (12x12 canvas) to be put up in the auction and I wanted a spot for people to come and check out the rest of my work. Here is a 9 canvas piece I did for my front entrance.
This piece is huge. Each canvas is 12"x12" and as you can see, there are 9 of them. And of course this photo does it no justice at all because I am no photographer and my sis is at lake. LOL

It's not much, but it's my small way of helping. I wish this family all the very best life has to offer.