August 23

View of the day-The view out our kitchen window in Bowbells.

A day of clouds as Al went out to the combine to fuel and service first thing in the morning. After moving everything to the new field we did a test and took it into the elevator, where they told us it was 13.1%. That sounded pretty good, but the straw was really tough and it was leaving a thick mat on the stubble.

We went for lunch, then went back out to the field to fix the end cap on the Freightliner. One of the door pins had pulled through the thin aluminum on the end cap that the tarp rolls over, and the back door was popping out at the top. Al had run a strap to one of the chains in the box to pull the door in at the top so the grain wouldn't leak out. We found a couple of long bolts to brace in behind the pins and we were back in business. Of course, we needed to combine some grain to test it out.

We did a couple of rounds and it was a lot higher than before, but it was going in an air bin so Al kept going. Marilyn waited in the pickup and tried to check her eyelids for cracks, but after talking to the farmer, Al decided to shut it down for the day. We went back to the camper where it was Al's turn to check his eyelids.

We had a knock at the camper door and when we answered, it was our farmer carrying two steak dinners! It was "men's night" at the local country club and since Marilyn couldn't get in, he picked up a couple of orders to go and dropped them off. They were excellent and they even came with a side of salad and baked potato...yummm. The rest of the evening was spent digesting.

We now wish for trains to go by to drown out someones barking *%$#ing dog...