September 10

View of the day-The end of the day, the rig is loaded and waiting to move to Esterhazy, SK.

Clouds and rain first thing in the morning, so we weren't sure what we were going to do today. The farmer decided they could finish up on their own, since we would have to wait a couple more days for the wheat to cure enough to combine.

We talked to the farmer at Esterhazy, and they had gotten some rain and there wouldn't be any combining for a couple of days, so if we wanted to stay here we could. We decided we should get the rest of our stuff moved to Esterhazy and wait there, just so the elder farmer wouldn't have to phone when the panic set in.

We went for lunch then went into town to get a new fuel filter for the Dodge, to replace the wrong one they had sold Al the day before. He already had the old one off so we had to borrow a truck from the landlord. We also had to renew the license for "Frank", our second vehicle. Frank is a 1987 Grand Marquis that we use to shuttle around town when we want to go our separate ways and it comes out of summer retirement when we get to Esterhazy. The name comes from the gentleman we bought it from, it just stuck...and it fits. Marilyn took Al out to the combine at the field and he roaded it back to the yard to get it ready to load.

We got back out to the farm and tried unsuccessfully to fix the window on the drivers door on the General. For a while it wouldn't roll up all the way, which wasn't bad in the summer, but it's getting a bit chilly now and it really needs to close. Especially if Marilyn switches over to truck driving for the fall harvest. We dismantled it and discovered the plastic strip that moves the window up and down had all the holes stripped out of the middle. We tried several repairs but quit short of fabricating a new one, the thought of punching all those oval holes didn't seem too appealing. Al decided to tough it out with it the way it is and we will look for the part at a wrecker.

The farmer came out to the camper to settle up, and after a gab, left us to do what we normally do after a job. We got the combine loaded without incident and hooked the trailer up to the General, then parked the rig for the night. The plan is to move the combine to Esterhazy, parking it in a different spot that the grain cart, of course.

We will take the camper home to Yorkton to unload most of the summer's accumulation of stuff that tends to collect. We will also get rid of the "summer clothes"...sigh...to make room for the jackets and warmer clothes that will be needed for the rest of the Canadian harvest. The forecast low for Thursday is 26 F...that's gonna be cold.

Hope the gardener has mowed our lawn...