April 5, 2015

View of the day-Actually, the other day on the blog...the final field we were working in last year...and the first one we will work in this year. 

That's right...we have to go back and finish off the last couple hundred acres. We went to Carlyle today to enjoy Easter dinner with Marg, Kim and Gordie. On our way back home we had to tow a sprayer back to Al's brother, Jeff's, farm at Gerald, so since it was on the way back, we drove past the field of standing wheat we had last seen in November. Hmm...standing, you say? The farmer had tried to take it off during some of the better days last fall, but put a rock through his combine, so asked if we would be able to come finish once the snow was gone and the ground was still frozen.


Ahh, the snowball effect of procrastination. First there's nothing happening, then not enough to tell about, until...BAM...five months have gone by and it has really piled up.

It seemed like there was never any rest from the time we quit combining until now, which has us heavy into the tax season. This is crazy time for Al at H&R Block and Marilyn helps out at the tax joint from 4 to 9pm after her regular 8 at Staples...not much time for anything else. Except the odd toy show.

Going back to last November, we got most of the equipment back to the yard, with the exception of a few stray items, but it didn't have to be anyplace important now that the season was officially over.  We did celebrate with an evening at the Moose Jaw Spa after a fantastic concert from John Fogerty...amazing how he still has "it".

The Association of Canadian Custom Harvesters annual convention was held in Saskatoon and as usual, it was an entertaining three days. It felt somewhat strange, since we hadn't been south of the border this year, but with all the tales told by the other harvesters, it was almost like we had been there. Minus the paperwork, hot days loading, endless days of moving...that sort of thing.

We heard a lot from the various companies, since it was an "equipment" year.

Every other year we have the trade show in a larger venue, which allows the combines, headers, trailers and other large items to be showcased.

As usual when it is in Saskatoon, we are lucky to be in the CNH Training facility...lots of room and hospitality.

We also had the first Canadian debut of the Great American Wheat Harvest documentary that was filmed over the last couple of years on the harvest run. The ACCHI was one of the sponsors and Lee Petersen, our current president and owner of Petersen Farms Harvesting, was included in the documentary.

*Shameless Plug*-

These videos are available in Canada, exclusively through the Association of Canadian Custom Harvesters. They are priced at $20 for DVD and $25 for BluRay, plus $5 shipping and handling. You can call 1-886-226-6610 to order or email lprevost@xplornet.ca 

With convention over, we sailed right through December  Marilyn was involved with the dinner theatre again...no acting this time and Al went back to work early this year. He was also busy with preparations for the toy auction that was coming up in February.  

January was the Saskatoon Toy show, followed by set up and trade show at Brandon for AgDays.  The toy show is always a lot of fun and this year, for a change, it wasn't -50ºC with a wind like other years. Here we have a "before and after", unfortunately, all the boxes hadn't been brought in yet.

The last week of January, we went to Minot for the Triple T Toy show. While we weren't looking for anything particular at the show, we were very interested in the auction that was being held on the Saturday night after the show. There was part of a collection...which was over 5000 pieces...that was being auctioned off by the estate of a collector that had been killed by a drunk driver. This collector was known for his high end items and chase units, so Al had his list ready for action. He ended up getting most of them and with Marilyn's packing skills, the finer items were able to ride in the cab of the truck...and so was she.

February had the Yorkton Farm Toy Show, which was kicked off with the toy auction that Al and Marilyn organize.

This year we had 230 items and we were worried it would take longer than we wanted, but the auctioneers made short work of the list, so we needn't have been concerned. Considering the Minot auction started at 5pm and all 500 pieces were sold by 9:30!

We had a 1/32 scale Massey 1805, the fourth in a series of Charity Tractors auctioned off. This years proceeds went to Team Clara, supporting three-year-old Clara who is fighting cancer.

The toy show was a success once again and this was an "equipment" year for us as we brought in the M88 combine to have on display. Marilyn wants to take it to a few more of the toy shows, but that would mean a bigger trailer.

We got to another toy show in March, this time it was to Morden, Manitoba. Al likes going to this one as we gain an hour coming back home throught the time zones. We had tried switching back and forth between Lloydminster, Alberta...which has its show a week earlier...and Morden, they are both about 275 miles, but the time thing wins out in the end. Having to close down at 4pm on Sunday, pack up and drive home makes that hour gained a bonus.

Al made it to a few auctions and even managed to part with his Versatile collection...the price was right. We got the cabinet refilled, but now he wants to start getting his Versatiles collected again. It's true..."it's the getting not the having".

Up to date and maybe harvesting in a few weeks...