Skip to main content Skip to search Skip to search

Humor Cultural, Ethnic & Regional

Fun On The Farm 3

True Tales of Farm Life

contributions by Deana Driver, Laurie Lynn Muirhead, Mary Harelkin Bishop, Jean Fahlman, Bryce Burnett, Brad Hauber, Elias Entz, Marilyn Frey & Cheryl Crashley

Publisher
DriverWorks Ink
Initial publish date
Sep 2021
Category
Cultural, Ethnic & Regional, Anecdotes
Recommended Reading age
13 to 18
  • Paperback / softback

    ISBN
    9781927570630
    Publish Date
    Sep 2021
    List Price
    $17.95

Classroom Resources

Where to buy it

Description

Rural driving adventures, riding pigs, cranky cattle, tricky technology, and childhood games are some of the treasured memories shared by 20 Prairie writers, including author/ publisher Deana J. Driver, in this third and final volume of the popular Fun On The Farm series. Even more giggles, surprises, and joys of living and working on Western Canadian farms are in this last volume of this amusing series celebrating the lighter side of farming.​

Contributing writers are: Deana J. Driver, Brad Hauber, Elias Entz, Jean Fahlman, Laurie Lynn Muirhead, Bryce Burnett, Leanne Pacholok, Alan Pacholok, Cheryl Crashley, Rev. Dr. Joyce Sasse, Theodore Mikolayenko, Mary Harelkin Bishop, Marilyn Frey, Jean (Smart) Tiefenbach, Keith Foster, Karen Ollinger, Elson McDougald, Ron Krenn, Janice Howden, Becky Gamble.

About the authors

Contributor Notes

About the authors:

The 32 short stories and 6 poems in this anthology are written by 20 Saskatchewan and other Prairie writers – all of whom have experienced fun or funny adventures on Prairie farms. Contributing writers are: Deana J. Driver, Brad Hauber, Elias Entz, Jean Fahlman, Laurie Lynn Muirhead, Bryce Burnett, Leanne Pacholok, Alan Pacholok, Cheryl Crashley, Rev. Dr. Joyce Sasse, Theodore Mikolayenko, Mary Harelkin Bishop, Marilyn Frey, Jean (Smart) Tiefenbach, Keith Foster, Karen Ollinger, Elson McDougald, Ron Krenn, Janice Howden, Becky Gamble.

Editor Deana J. Driver grew up on a farm at Athabasca, Alberta and has a deep appreciation for rural life. For 30 years, Deana (dee-na) worked as a freelance journalist, chronicling the stories of fascinating Prairie people through 2,300 articles published in Canadian magazines. She has written five non-fiction books and has worked with more than 40 Prairie authors since 2008, when she founded her book publishing company, DriverWorks Ink.

Excerpt: Fun On The Farm 3: True Tales of Farm Life (contributions by Deana Driver, Laurie Lynn Muirhead, Mary Harelkin Bishop, Jean Fahlman, Bryce Burnett, Brad Hauber, Elias Entz, Marilyn Frey & Cheryl Crashley)

Using Your Head
By Deana J. Driver with Leanne Pacholok and Alan Pacholok

Ah, our only brother, Alan. So many stories of the dumb things he’s done on the farm. But we love him dearly and are grateful he’s survived these many incidents … er … adventures.
For most of my life, I’ve wondered about the small patch of white hair that adorns the back of my brother’s otherwise sandy blond head of hair. I’ve never asked him about it. I always thought it was a birthmark.
While interviewing him about the funny stories recalled by my youngest sister, Leanne, I learned the truth. The white patch happened when he was very young.
Pulling a heavy chain off the back of a truck box was apparently entertaining to Alan. “It wasn’t a big deal,” he said. “It was fun when I was young.” But one day, Alan grabbed onto a loose chain that was in the back of a one-ton truck and it rolled toward him with such force that the hook at the end of the chain clipped him in the back of his head and knocked him out.
“I was probably four or six years old. The next thing I knew, I had a white spot on the back of my hair. A hairdresser told me that a blunt object will do that,” explained Alan, joking that he might just start a new sideline business.
“Every time I go to the hairdresser, I hear, ‘Do you know how much women will pay for that?’
“I say, ‘I got it for free and I can do that for people.’ That will be my farming niche – to teach people how to get that spot.”
Alas, that was just the first story of our brother not using his head in quite the same way as his sisters do.
One day when Leanne was not yet a teenager, during the chores of feeding a calf some of its mother’s milk, Leanne was astounded to watch Alan crouch down and put his forehead up against the calf’s forehead, then push. This event did not turn out the way Alan had anticipated.
“Alan used to wrestle and play with all the milk cows’ calves,” Leanne recalled. This particular calf was kept in a pen inside the barn and fed milk from a pail. “As soon as this calf saw you come over with the pail, it ran over and you held the pail while it drank,” explained Leanne. “You walked away and it would follow you. It always wanted more. Sometimes these calves hit the pail like they hit a cow’s udder, so you have to hold the pail firm. They are head bunters…”
Which leads us nicely into this incident...
“We always just cuddle and pet them,” my brother explained of the young calves while telling his version of the story. “We grabbed them around the neck and played with them. There was one calf that was really friendly. I’d push my head against his a little bit to see how strong he was, how strong I was. He’d push back. Then one time, he backed up and just smoked me! He was only about two hundred pounds. I wasn’t knocked out, but I could have been knocked out for a few seconds. He was playing, but he really wanted to play now. Holy crap, that hurt!”
Leanne’s response to this incident?...

- By Deana J. Driver, Regina, Saskatchewan

Other titles by

Tunnels of Tyranny

Moose Jaw Time Travel Adventure #4

by (author) Mary Harelkin Bishop
edited by Deana Driver
illustrated by Wendi Nordell

Tunnels of Treachery

Moose Jaw Time Travel Adventure #3

by (author) Mary Harelkin Bishop
edited by Deana Driver
illustrated by Wendi Nordell

Tunnels of Terror

Moose Jaw Time Travel Adventure #2

by (author) Mary Harelkin Bishop
edited by Deana Driver
illustrated by Wendi Nordell

Tunnels of Time

Moose Jaw Time Travel Adventure #1

by (author) Mary Harelkin Bishop
edited by Deana Driver
illustrated by Wendi Nordell

Murphy Mondays

The First St. John Ambulance Therapy Dog in a Canadian Emergency Room

by (author) Jane Smith
illustrated by Wendy Nordell

Skye Bird and the Eagle Feather

by (author) Mary Harelkin Bishop
edited by Deana Driver
illustrated by Heaven Starr

Mistasinîy

Buffalo Rubbing Stone

by (author) Mary Harelkin Bishop
edited by Deana Driver
illustrated by Heaven Starr

Rescued

by (author) Janice Howden
illustrated by Erika Folnovic
edited by Deana Driver

Gina's Wheels

by (author) Mary Harelkin Bishop
illustrated by Diane L. Greenhorn
edited by Deana Driver

The Sailor and the Christmas Trees

A True Story

edited by Deana Driver
illustrated by Catherine Folnovic

Other titles by